my own name was on the ballot and that is kind of a thrill, i have to tell you. and i have to be honest and say from him and i pause because ice -- because i thought of all of our supporters. the people worked so hard. and i thought, why did i run? asaid i thought for constitutional conservative and i am fighting for someone who knows this is a fight and who will be a fearless warrior on our behalf and i checked that box for ted cruz. and then and only then did i sit down and have a conversation with him. i had met him behind stage at the debate but those are not exactly social gatherings. we sat down for an hour and i wanted to help. time i have been on a

bus campaigning with him for about seven weeks and you get to know someone on a bus for seven weeks. let me tell you about the guy i have come to know. we have been joined by some of his friends, some of his lifelong friends whether it is his college roommate or louie gohmert. such a great guy. i would rather have them for friends than john boehner. all those friends say the same thing. they all say the same thing. they say he is exactly the same. behind closed doors and just with us kicking back as he is in public i bring that up because someone who endorsed donald , ben carson, ben

carson said he endorsed donald trump. he is one guy and private and one guy in public. think about that, ladies and gentlemen. aremost important decisions made in privates we better know what we are getting. someoneetter know when sitting in private what kind of supreme court justice they are going to nominate. we better know when the going gets's desk gets tough that they will defend this nation and make the tough call. we better now that is people are saying you cannot go to a simple flat tax and eliminate the irs because the president is going to say, yes i can't, that is the promise i have made to the people of this great country. we need to know who he is in private. then i got to observe him as a husband. you will get to meet heidi. she is a brilliant woman. she is an accomplished,

brilliant woman in her own right. she is harvard in ba. she has had a brilliant career and i watched the two of them and it is clear they are partners. tonow from my own marriage my own dear husband i know that it takes a strong man to truly partner with a strong woman and ted cruz is a strong man with a --at partner in heidi cruise cruz. and she will make an awesome first lady. and of course i got to know his daughters, caroline and catherine and what i observed about those adorable little girls is they adore their dad. they also know that he is engaged in important work. and so while the thing they want to do more than anything else is jump into his lap and play games and listen to him tell stories and to his imitations they know sometimes they need to let him do his important work.

doesn't say a lot about a man when his children adore and respect him? you all know why the constitution is so important but you may have fellow hoosiers who really do not understand it. so in the spirit of trying to equip you to convince others tonight and tomorrow, i want to tell you a little bit about why the constitution is as relevant a document as the day it was written and why it is so critically important that we constitutionald conservative in the white house. to do that i have to start a long time ago in my own life. once in the morning when i was about eight, probably my mother

looked at me and said what you .re is god's gift to you what you make of yourself is your gift to god. i have learned over the course of my life, i have traveled, i have lived, i have worked all over the world for decades. i have done business work, charitable work, policy work. i have learned that everywhere in the world even in the most desperate circumstances each of us are indeed gifted by god. i have learned that every single person has potential usually far more than they realize. every one of us wants a life of dignity and purpose and meaning. and we know and it is the same the world over that work done well brings dignity. and family brings purpose and brings meaning to our lives. it is worth asking the question if everyone has those same human desires and tremendous potential that comes from god, why is it

that more things have been possible for more people for than anywherere else on earth? why is it this place has been so extraordinary, why is it true that it is only here that a young woman can start as i did typing and filing and answering the phones for a nine person real estate firm in the middle of the deep recession. go on one day to become the chief executive of what we turned into the largest technology company in the world, ran for the presidency, and now be standing on the stage as the 45th president's running mate. that is only possible here. and the question is why? why is it only possible here? you know what? i was a student of history. and so were our founders. anyone who has studied history understands that human nature does not change.

times change, cultures change, human nature is not change and there are two fundamentals about human nature that our founders understood. the first was they knew what my mother taught me. they knew that everyone has god-given gifts and so they built a nation on this amazing idea. it was radical at the time. the idea was that each of us life, toght to liberty, to the pursuit of happiness. that was their way of saying each of us has the right to find out own way, to use our god-given gifts to a potential and dream big. this was the radical part. that that right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness comes from god and cannot be taken away by antigovernment. and so the constitution is a document that enshrines our rights and liberties, yes it does. it gives us the right to bear arms.

thated cruz will protect to the end. a gives us the right to practice our religion freely and ted cruz has defended that to the end. but the constitution is something else. because history also teaches us that power concentrated his power abused. power concentrated is power abused and so the constitution was also written to prevent the concentration of power, to restrain power. here is the truth, ladies and gentlemen. we have had way too much power concentrated in the hands of way too few people for way too long. and that is why it matters that you have a constitutional conservative because ted cruz aserstands that what ails us we are crushing the potential of

too many americans because there is too much money and too much power in the hands of too few. interests,ntrenched there are corrupt politicians, their crony capitalists and that system must be challenged. that takes a warrior. that takes a fighter. say ted cruzple has made some enemies. a man isabout how known by his friends and his wife and his children but honestly, folks, a man or a woman is known by their enemies as well. i've challenged systems my whole life. i will tell you that we challenge the status quo, the challenge the powers that be, he do more than ruffle feathers. you make enemies so know this man by the fact that he has the

courage to make the enemies he must make to fight for all of us. [applause] enemies of the present leadership. the on your friends and warriors and you take the slings and arrows from your enemy. i know a lot of people who voted for donald trump and no -- i know a lot of people who will vote for donald trump. they think that donald trump be a warrior to challenge the system. think for a moment, think about the pattern of his life. john boehner said he does not much care for ted cruz but he is a texting and golfing buddy with donald trump. he gave john boehner a hundred thousand dollars to his super pac at the same time he was giving money to nancy pelosi and harry reid. [boo] i never invested in hillary clinton's campaign, it is not just business.

what donald trump has been doing he is the crony capitalist who , has been using the system. hillary clinton and donald trump are two sides of the same coin. hillary clinton has made her millions selling access and influence and donald trump has made his billions buying people like hillary clinton off. he will not challenge the system, he will not fight the system. he is the system! [applause] he is the system and the system must be fought and ted cruz is the man to lead us in this fight. guess what, it is all of our fight. there is so much at stake now. it is not just that taxes have to be lower.

yes they do. donald trump wants to raise them. it is not just that our rights and liberties have to be protected and preserved. it is not just that obamacare have to be repealed. it is not just that we have to lead again in the world so we are safe at home. all of those things are at stake. but the soul of our party is also at stake and so is the future of our nation. it is time, people of the hoosier state, time that we wage this fight. it is time to take our country that. -- back. [applause] i was proud and honored and humbled as well to accept ted cruz's offer to be his running mate. i will stand with him. i will fight with him. i want you to stand with him and fight with him as well, because this is the fight of our time. for the soul of our party, for the future of our nation, we

must take our country back. [applause] so, ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor to introduce you to your first family, caroline and catherine cruz and your awesome first lady heidi crews and the next president of the united states, ted cruz. [applause] [brooks and dunn, "only in america."] sen. cruz: god bless the great

♪ sen. cruz: god bless the great state of indiana.

[applause] it is such an incredible privilege, such an incredible honor to be with so many patriots, so many lovers of liberty tonight. in the hoosier state, i am so honored to see what an array of patriots are here standing and fighting. i have to say, isn't heidi going to make an amazing first lady? [applause] she is beautiful and brilliant, she is an amazing mommy to our two little girls. she is my best friend in the whole wide world. [applause]

i have to say, to all the kids here, when heidi cruz's first lady, french fries are coming back to the one true. -- lunchroom. [applause] call me crazy, i know if a cardboard began on the plate not on top. how about glenn beck? [applause] is england incredible -- glenn incredible? every time he talks, i learned something. i love it when he brings out the whiteboard and begins walking through the founding principles of our nation. the principles that led to the declaration that led to the constitution. the fundamental understanding that our rights do not come from

government, they come from god almighty. [applause] as a constitution was drafted, as thomas jefferson put it, change to bind the mischief of government. at a time when washington has such a spirit of fear and timidity, gladback -- is glenn beck is fearless. how about carly? what an extraordinary leader she is. when i announced her as my vice presidential choice, there is no more sound decision that a presidential candidate makes the naming a vice president. you are telling the american people that this person is prepared to step up and be

president of the united states at a moments notice and is prepared to step up and honor the promises and commitments we have made and preserved and protect the constitution of the end states and be commander-in-chief and keep this country safe. [applause] the criteria you are looking for in a vice president is really the same criteria you're looking for in a resident. for me it was three things. knowledge, judgment, and character. starting with knowledge, carly's career in business has been incredible. starting as a secretary and rising the corporate ladder to become the ceo of the largest technology company in the world. the first woman ceo of a fortune 20 company in history.

[applause] carly has been shattering glass ceilings her in liar life -- her entire life and i want someone who understood jobs. they don't come from washington, they come from small business and they come from the people. [applause] and that judgment, i have been so blessed to barnstorm with carly all across the country. to see her firsthand and up close. she is careful, sober, thinks through. we do not want a president who is rash, hotheaded and libel to explode. [applause] when you're talking about someone who is to be commander-in-chief, who is to have their anger on the nuclear button, you want someone of good and stable judgment. [applause] the third thing you want is character. character is the most important aspect of any president or vice

president. [applause] you want someone who has struggled, someone who has no loss. you want someone who is honest and tells the truth and does not lie all the time. you want someone who stands by their principles. you want someone who has principles. [applause] who doesn't have one position in the morning and one position at noon and another position at night. you know, of the greatest misfortunes of character is how you treat people you don't have to be nice too. .

everyone of us knows how to kiss up to our boss. that is not hard. the question is, how do you treat the clerk at the convenience store? how do you treat the taxicab driver? howdy to the young lady in the tollbooth at night? one of the things that impressed me most about carly was watching her at the debates and watching her stand up to bullies. [applause] everyone of us who has been through grade school, we know bullies in our lives. contrary to the media narrative, bullies are not strong. they are weak. they are cowards, scared, insecure, have an empty hole inside that they fill by trying to find someone they think is weaker than they are in picking on them and abusing them. that is not a sign of strength. carly fiorina is somebody who stands up to bullies whether

they are donald trump or hillary clinton or vladimir putin. [applause] and perhaps, my favorite thing about carly, is that she utterly terrifies hillary clinton. [applause] i can just picture hillary thinking about carly. tossing and turning in tossing and turning in her jail cell. [laughter] [applause] this next election, is about three issues. jobs, freedom, and security. let's start with jobs. i want to take a minute and speak to all the single moms who

are here. who are working to-three part-time jobs. who have seen their hours reduced to 28-29 hours a week because obamacare kicks in at 30 hours. i want to talk to all the truck drivers, on the plumbers and mechanics and steelworkers and coal miners. although union members. -- all the union members. who have seen wages stagnating year after year. the cost of living keeps going up. yet, somehow your paycheck does not keep pace. i want to speak to all the young people. [applause] and hillary, bernie, take a look at all the people. [applause]

all the young people who are coming out of school buried in student loans. scared. can i get a job? what does the future hold for me? the media tries to tell us that this is the new normal. this is as good as it gets. let me tell you, that is an absolute lie. [applause] it is easy to talk about making america great again. you can even put that on a baseball cap. [laughter] through question is do you understand the principles and

values that made america great in the first place. the heart of our economy is not washington, d.c.. the heart of our economy is small businesses across the united states of america. [applause] if you want to unleash the economy, you take the boot of the federal government off the back of the next of small businesses. -- necks of small businesses. ronald reagan understood and before him, john f. kennedy understood that when you cut taxes and with regulation on small businesses, the results are millions and millions of high-paying jobs. i intend to follow the past ronald reagan and jfk to lift the burden on small businesses and bring jobs back to america. vicon industries, donald trump -- my opponent in this race,

donald trump, and following the path of barack obama and hillary clinton. his campaign on a massive 40% tax increase. donald trump's only economic policy is that he would impose a massive tariff that every creature would pay every time they go to the store. your prices will be 40% higher. i have to tell you, putting a 40% tax increase would send us into a recession and i don't think the hard-working men and women of indiana need the donald trump massive tax increase. [applause] in contrast, i'm going to cut your taxes. [applause] we are going to pass a simple

flat tax. where everyone of us can fill out our taxes on a postcard. and when we do that, we should abolish the irs. [applause] we are going to repeal every word of obamacare. it is the biggest job killer in america and in its place, we're going to pass commonsense health care reform. and keeps government from getting in between us and our doctors. [applause] we are going to rain and the epa.

the federal leaders have decided like locusts on farmers and ranchers and kill businesses -- small businesses are killing jobs all across the country. were going to stop the obama administration's war on call. we are going to devote all of our energy resources so we can stop sending billions of dollars to countries that hate us. [applause] we are going to stop amnesty and secure the border and end things where cities and end of welfare benefits for those here illegally. [applause]

let me tell you what will happen when we do all that. we are going to see millions and millions of new high-paying jobs coming back to america. we will see jobs coming back from mexico. we see jobs coming back from china. we will see manufacturing jobs coming back to indiana. we will see carrier bringing jobs back to indiana. we're going to see wages rising again. we're going to see young people coming out of school with job offers. [applause] that is what this election is about. morning in america again. [applause] the second critical issue in this election is freedom. just a few weeks ago, the passing of justice and leah underscore the stakes of this election. it is not just one, but two branches of the government that hang in the balance. if you care about religious liberty, the right to seek out

the lord god almighty and worship him with all of your heart, mind, and soul without government getting in the way. [applause] if you care about the second amendment right to keep and bear arms and protect your family -- [applause] then we are one liberal justice away from a radical five justice left wing majority that would strip those rights and the rest of the bill of rights from americans for a generation. you know, coupled they to go, hugh hewitt asked all abuzz about the supreme court and religious liberty and donald

trump turned to me, ted, i've known a lot of politicians than you have. well, and that he is correct. donald trump has been supporting liberal democrats for 40 years. i have no experience with that. [applause] but donald continued. he said, ted, when it comes to religious liberty and the supreme court, you got to learn to compromise. you got to learn to cut deals with the democrats to go along and get along. let me be very clear, to hoosiers across the state, i will not compromise the way you religious liberty. [applause] and i will not compromise away

your second amendment to keep and bear arms. [applause] the third critical issue in this election, security. for seven years, we have seen a president who abandons our friends and allies and shows weakness and appeasement to our enemies. once again, to debate to go, donald trump explained to all those that if he was president, he would be neutral between israel and the palestinians. let me be very clear, as president, i will not be neutral. [applause] america will stand

unapologetically with the nation of israel. [applause] and anyone who can tell the difference between our friends and our enemies, anyone who can tell the difference between israel and islamic terrorists who want to kill us, that raises real questions about their fitness and judgment to be commander -- commander-in-chief. we need a commander-in-chief, right now. for seven years we have seen our military weekend, readiness undermined and morale plummeted. you know, as a nation, we have seen this before. we have seen another left-wing democratic president, jimmy carter, weaken and undermined the military. then in january 1981, ronald reagan came into office. [applause]

what did reagan do? he cut taxes, but did regulations and we saw millions of high-paying jobs. that generated trillions in government revenue and he is that revenue to rebuild the military, bankrupt the soviet union and win the cold war. [applause] i intend to do the exact same thing with radical islamic terrorism. we are going to repeal obamacare, pass a flat tax, rain in the regulators, pass amnesty. there will be millions of jobs coming back to indiana, wages rising, that is going to generate trillions of new government revenue and we will use that revenue to rebuild our military so it remains the

mightiest fighting force on the face of the planet. [applause] no longer -- [applause] no longer will our military be governed by political correctness. [applause] we will have a president who stands up and says of the world

that we will defeat radical islamic terrorism. [applause] we will have a president willing to utter the words radical islamic terrorism. [applause] i love you, too. one of the saddest and most simple things we have seen in the last seven years has been this president sending our fighting men and women into combat with rules of engagement so strict that their arms are tied behind their back that they cannot fight, cannot win, cannot defeat the enemy. that is wrong. it is immoral and, mark my words, january 2017, it will end. [applause] to every soldier and sailors and airmen and running, and for that matter, every police officer and firefighter and first responder,

the days of a president who does not respect your service are going to end. you are going to have the thanks of a grateful nation and a commander-in-chief who's got your back! [applause] >> cruz, cruz, cruz! sen. cruz: 21 hours. that is how long remains until the polls close. 21 hours. this has been a strange and long journey. it has not been born. [laughter] -- boring. [laughter] we started with 17 candidates. what a contrast with the democrats. the democratic field consists of

a wild eyed socialist with ideas that are dangerous for america and the world and bernie sanders. [laughter] over the course of the year, the primary did what it was supposed to do. it has narrowed the field. as we stand here now, there are two in only two people who have any plausible path to winning the republican commission. me and donald trump. right now, today, the entire

country, the eyes of the nation are on indiana. indiana faces a choice, not just for the state or the republican party, the for the entire country. do we get behind a campaign that is based on yelling and screaming and cursing and insults? or do we continue to unify behind a positive, optimistic, forward-looking conservative campaign? [applause] based on real policy solutions to the problems facing this country. [applause] for the past week, heidi and i and carolyn and catharine, we have been barnstorming the state of indiana traveling in a bus asking for the support of hoosiers across the state. i think any candidate running for president owes it to the voters to look into the eyes, should your hands, answer your questions, to come and come to work for you. to show that humility, to show that respect.

earlier today, in marion, indiana, we had and that there -- an event there were there were 400 people come into a small cafe. in addition to this 400 supporters, we had 6-7

supporters. we had a very civil, respectful conversation. in between, for every statement i made, he yelled liar. and somehow the facts did not matter. if he just yelled liar bath that often enough the insults he define things. he said he was going to build a wall. i said are you aware that he told the new york times editorial board that he did not mean anything he said on immigration that he was just saying that to full of voters? that was his response. predictably he just screamed liar. i said are you aware, it is on tape. that the new york times taped it and they are happy to release it if donald trump gives his permission. if he did not say that, if the tape proves his innocence, donald trump should want it released. the secondnext,

amendment, i said ok. he said what have you done for the second amendment? i said i am glad you asked. statessented 31 litigating hell are versus district of colombia which preserved the individual right to keep and bear arms. and i said did you know that donald trump and hillary clinton 'sth agreed with bill clinton national ban on guns, many of the most popular guns in america? he did not know that. but instead, he just began .elling yelling liar. and so then i made the point, i said, sir, if i were donald would notltra by block across the street to talk to. i would not have shown you that respect because i said, listen,

i am campaigning to be everyone's president. if i were donald trump i would have stayed surrounded by my supporters and i would have instructed some of them to go over and punch them in the face. it was interesting. the fellow's response to that, anyone know what it was question mark key yelled liar. ?mar at it was question he yelled liar. the great thing about truth, it is verifiable. go home and google donald trump punch of the face. you will find him standing at a rally on national television, it is not like this is a secret, instructing his supporters, punch that protester in the face and i will pay your legal bills when you do it.

matters. donald trump has taken to asking supporters at rallies to raise their hand and pledge their support for donald trump. this is the united states of america. we do not pledge support to men. we pledge allegiance to the flag. we pledge to support the constitution. and the only hand raising i am interested in is in january twice 17 when i raise my hand and pledge my support to each of reserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states.

when people ask why do spend night and day crisscrossing the country away from your family from away from your kid so often? the insults,d your and allies, the attacks, the smears, the mud? it is not a complicated question. i do it because i love this country. i do it because i look at caroline and catherine, the loves of my life, and i do it for the same reason everyone of you is here. because we're not willing to look in the eyes of our children and grandchildren and tell them, we set by while the greatest country in the history of the world went down the drain. [cheers and applause] everyone ofonight

us because we love our kids, because we love our grant should -- grandkids and our country is in crisis. it is at the edge of a cliff staring down. , ourf we do not will back kids, our grandkids will not enjoy the freedom, the prosperity, the liberties, the blessings that each of us has been so incredibly privileged to enjoy. depending country is on the state of indiana. we have got 21 hours, i want to ask you right now, donald trump and i are effectively tied in the state of indiana. it is that connect in the state of indiana. inant to ask everyone of you 21 hours, can you find five people to come out and vote tomorrow? 10 people were 15 or 20? or 15 or 20? you look around, there are 2000 people added here tonight.

if every person here gets 10 people to show up tomorrow and the one hours, that represents 20,000 votes and that means the men and women in this room could decide the indiana primary. we all remember what reagan said , freedom is not passed down from one generation to the next in the bloodstream. rather, every generation must stand and fight to defend freedom. or when day we will find ourselves answering to our children or our children's children, what was it like when america was free? that nobodyquestion in this room is ever going to have to answer.

the next way one hours, millions of american -- of americans are praying for each of you. you are being lifted up in prayer. millions are lifting the state of indiana up in prayer. and i could not be more gratified. i could not be more encouraged that this primary is coming down to the midwestern common sense, to the good judgment of hoosiers. if we continue to unite, if we stand together as one, coming together, i spent the whole day barnstorming the state, campaigning with indiana's governor, mike pence. and i will tell you, we saw stunning contrasts. i am proud to stand with mike pence, i am proud to stand with carly fiorina. at this -- at the same time

donald trump is trumpeting their support he received from mike tyson. spenticted rapist who three years in prison here in indiana for raping a 17-year-old girl. what did donald trump say? he said might tyson is in his a "tough guy." i got news for you. rapists are not tough guys. they are cowards and weaklings and bullies. i spent a lot of years in law enforcement dealing with rapists. and they are the very embodiment and i will say that contrast provides a clear and simple choice for the people of the state.

unite to come to together with governor mike pence and carly fiorina and glenn beck and mark levine, if we stand as one, we will win this republican primary. and if we continue tonight the nation, we will win the general election. we will beat hillary clinton and we will turn this great nation around. thank you and god bless you. ♪

♪ ♪ the campaigns released job ads.

here's look. -- here is a look. against epavoted and is fighting to stop tpp. he stopped the gang of eight trump funded it. he had a $1 million judgment against him for hiring illegals and he still brings in hundreds of foreign workers to replace americans. what a phony. >> ahead of the indiana primary results tuesday, we will have campaign stops with the democratic candidates. hillary clinton speaks on jobs and the economy at a campaign event in athens, ohio. we will join the event at jackie o's brewery. we bring you center bernie sanders at a campaign rally in louisville am a

kentucky. live from waterfront park at 7:30 p.m. eastern also here on c-span. following the bernie sanders event here, we will have live coverage of the indiana primary results. >> madam secretary. we've probably give 72 of our delegate votes to the next president of the united states. [applause] >> c-span's washington journal

live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up tuesday morning. tony cook, reporter for the indianapolis star will join us to discuss the republican and democratic primaries taking place in indiana. 52 delegates are up for grabs for the republicans and 92 for the democrats. for thepolitical editor national journal will preview tomorrow's primary contest in indiana and the road ahead for campaign 2016. jake aro it's will join us from -- to discuss the mission of the new site which provides information and news content for millennials. a.m. eastern 7 tuesday morning. join the discussion. a discussion on tuesday's indiana primary. on "washington journal." this is 40 minutes.

indiana. he is the chairman of the howard county republican party in the hoosier state. he is also a columnist and joins us now to talk about the primary in the state. when was the last time that indiana actually had a primary on the republican side that made a difference? reagan and -- ronald gerald ford. host: how are you or how are republicans preparing in indiana this time around? are there a lot of mechanics this time that have moved into operation that have not happened in past primaries? guest: frankly, we have had to learn the whole process over again. peoplere not a lot of around at that time that are still real active in politics. there are a few, but that is the real great thing about the union in indiana right -- being in indiana right now. we are loving it from the political junkies to the average

person. and there is a presidential candidate standing there. is a most -- it's an experience that most have not had and they are enjoying it. host: this is an open primary. explain that. guest: the person declares the ballot they want to receive at the polling place. you can be a democrat and if you decide you want to vote for donald trump, for example, you say i want a republican ballot. now you get a republican ballot. it's as open as it can possibly be. we do see some of that from primary to primary. host: can voters go in and register to vote tomorrow and do that or has registration ended? guest: no, registration is -- we have had it up until recently here, but tomorrow will be a little too late. host: expectations for turnout tomorrow in the first meaningful

primary on the gop side in over 40 years? guest: if i can use the early voting and the absentee balloting as any kind of guidance point, i say we will have a record primary voting. i talked to our secretary of state 10 days ago and she told me we were running well ahead of our record pace in the past. i would expect that to be the case. i voted last monday. voting was brisk at the absentee voting center. host: we are talking with craig dunn this morning about the indiana primary tomorrow, that closely watched primary c. craig dunn is the chairman of the howard county republican party there. we have online's for democrats, republicans, and independents as usual. there's also the special one for indiana voters at (202) 748-8003 .

we want to hear your stories in the segment of "washington journal." want to get your thought about this ted cruz-john kasich alliance. some calling it a short-lived alliance in the hoosier state and other states coming up. guest: i think it will go down in history as a nonevent. if it will too late. -- it's a little too late. it's estimated that 30% of our voters have voted early. because of that, the impact of a potential alliances probably for not. do not know if i can say necessarily that we are different breed than other states, but i do know the average hoosier does not take kindly to somebody telling them how to vote. that is one of those situations where you say it is interesting. i do not think it will matter at all to the people going in to vote. i think most will vote the way they originally intended to. that a lion's is nothing more

than just a gesture that was going to pretty obvious by the fact that campaigns have limited resources relative to money and manpower. more important than anything is just time. i think that is what this is all about. john kasich is spending his money and time and resources in states that could be more productive to them. it probably could have been done without announcing a formal alliance, but i do not think it will impact the final results. host: donald trump brushing off this alliance between ted cruz and john kasich as a desperate move by campaigns that are close to dropping out of the race. news sunday yesterday, ted cruz was asked about this sort of last stand in indiana storyline. here's the exchange. [video clip] >> i agree that indiana is incredibly important. regardless of what happens in indiana, donald trump is not

getting to 1237. we are heading to a contested convention. i will have a ton of delegates. donald trump has a ton of delegates. it's going to be a battle to see who can earn a majority of the delegates elected by the people at the convention. the reason donald is so frantic to say the race is over and trying to get his media acolytes to say the race is over is because donald knows he cannot earn a majority of the delegates that were elected by the people. if you cannot win a majority, it means you cannot unite the party. and you can't win. host: if donald trump does win tomorrow, what are your thoughts? is it over for the ted cruz campaign? guest: there are a lot of working part in the process that still have not unfolded. i do not think it automatically trump as te donald the winner, but there is this

drip effect of every vote in every state that goes for trump. it makes it more difficult with the less votes he needs to pick up in the remaining primary states in order to win. certainly indiana is a very important state. i would say that it is either trumps win or his waterloo. host: the latest polls published in "the wall street journal" today has donald trump at 49% and ted cruz at 34% and john kasich at 13%. craig dunn, you are a guy who noted on your blog that you had a john kasich sign in your yard. talk about the path ahead for john kasich. guest: john kasich strategy from the very beginning when he started with a 17 candidate field and we went through that mockery of televised debates that degenerated into sophomoric

name-calling and bullying, john kasich most of that time was down on the end in the debates. he would find himself being outnumbered many times in terms of the amount of time he received at the debate. he decided early on in the that acquiring delegates during the primary process was not the target for him and you do to wage a 1237 campaign of hoping for a contested convention and hoping that it goes to a second ballot, which will give him a greater chance. i think that is consistent. isfact, the indiana strategy such that i think part of why he felt comfortable about leaving indiana and going on to oregon in new mexico was that i would feel comfortable that a majority of the delegates in indiana, if things would go to the second ballot, would probably back john

kasich. i think that is what his strategy is. i am disappointed that he was not here going door-to-door and attending on lincoln day events in those type of things, but i understand the 1237 strategy. every candidate has to run their own race. i think that is his strategy. ultimately, if it is a contested convention, i think it will be successful for him. host: we have a special line for indiana voters in the segment at (202) 748-8003 as we talked to craig dunn. rick is in marion, indiana. good morning. you are on with craig dunn. caller: how're you doing? i want to ask what do you think about donald trump's for bringing manufacturing jobs back to indiana because we have lost a lot of jobs in my county. from my understanding, we lost

over 10,000 manufacturing jobs in our county. guest: i certainly admire anybody whose goal is to increase manufacturing jobs in the state of indiana or in the united states for that matter. of course, the rub is how you go about doing it. if you talk about unilateral abrogation of previously negotiated trade agreements, i think you are potentially opening a can of worms there and could cause some serious problems. largely is the law of unintended consequences. to assume automatically that our tode partners will allow us act solely in our economic self-interest without any sort of corresponding response on their part is maybe a little naive. i think we need to focus perhaps more on retraining our workforce and looking for areas that are particular unique to the united states manufacturing process to

bring those jobs back. at to mention the fact that total restructuring of our tax code, perfectly relative to corporate tax rates that reward corporations frankly for keeping their process offshore, if we can repatriate those that to the united states, i think you'll see unprecedented job creation. host: we are talking with craig dunn, in indiana columnist. howiepolitics.com. we are focusing on the republican side because craig dunn is a gop party chair in howard county. anthony, good morning. caller: how're you gentlemen? host: go ahead. caller: i will vote republican just to continue this parties viability in the future. is -- i'my question

still undecided. which candidate on the republican side is able to perhaps have a victory over the democrats? secondly, does donald trump's favorability exceed both john kasich and ted cruz? host: craig dunn? guest: we have two issues there. , which isctability largely at the republican convention, if i get an opportunity to vote on a second ballot, i will make my decision based on electability in november. if you believe the polls as they are today, and i am very mindful of the fact that pulls can change and candidate strategy can move forward, but essentially today in a head-to-head contest with hillary clinton, donald trump is trailing hilly clinton by eight percentage points. ted cruz is behind the lakeland by proximately three percentage

points. john kasich is leading by eight percentage points. it is very difficult to average that, but i can tell you in 16 consecutive national polls, john kasich has shown that he would be ahead of hillary clinton in each one of those polls. as far as your second point is ask that question again if you would please. host: it was about electability and talking about favorability. guest: on the favorability issue, i do not think there would be any doubt right now in the republican party that donald trump, out of the people who ,ave voted in the primaries that his favorability would be higher than the other candidates. what we have to look at is the net favorability because he is off the charts on the negative. so is hillary clinton from that

standpoint. we are looking at a person that is popular in a segment of the republican party, but yet, the net unfavorables are just off of the chart. for instance, seven out of 10 women are telling us as they leave the polls that they will not vote for donald trump. i think hispanics are running north of 70% that will not vote for donald trump. you get to the point in time where mathematics start piling up against you. it is going to be very difficult to cobble together a coalition that can win in the fall when your net negatives are so high. host: let us go to ohio where mary is waiting peri. caller: i have two points. the first one is it donald trump is such a great negotiator, why didn't he go to indiana or tried to save the carrier jobs? why did he not try to make one of his great deals? my second point is why is the

mainstream media afraid to talk about his association with epstein and orangey island? dunn on the carrier plant, remind our viewers what that was. guest: that as a manufacturing plant engaged in the heating and manufacturingss, heating and cooling products. they announced that they would ship a sizable number of jobs to mexico to be manufactured. i do not know if it was donald trump's place to come in and try to negotiate from moving there, but i do know that in indiana, both republicans and democrats exercise a lot of pressure and were able to get carrier to reduce the number of jobs. originally it was close to 2000 jobs that would be outsourced to mexico. now it is going to be little north of a thousand jobs.

governor pence played a very strong role in that in keeping and i sure thousand jobs here in indiana. as far as the other question is concerned, i would not have an opinion on that. host: you bring up governor pence, indiana governor mike pence. cruziday, he endorsed ted in his appearance on w ibc radio in indianapolis. [video clip] >> choose the man who are shown courage and his convictions. it is not a popular thing and washington, d.c. to take on the leadership of your own party. i know that. i did it when i was there. i opposed runaway spending whether it was republican administration and congress or a democratic administration. let me be very clear. i respect the right and the views of every hoosier in making their the termination in the upcoming primary election.

i urge every hoosier to make up their own mind. for me, to lead is to choose. choosinghis time of when people all across america are looking to indiana to make a decision, i just wanted to make my decision known. let me be very clear on this. whoever wins the republican nomination for president of the united states, i'm going to work my heart out to get elected this fall. pence'saig dunn on mike endorsement of ted cruz -- your thoughts? guest: it struck me as somewhat of a tepid endorsement frankly. he preceded the comments that with being very complementary to donald trump for bringing in millions of new voters into the republican primary process before he got

around to endorsing ted cruz. march, it the long probably will not have tremendous bearing on this. i think a lot of people's minds were made up. frankly i was surprised that he did the endorsement. he has a pretty tough race coming up this fall. there is no particular reason to irritate either side going into the fall. he expressed himself what he was going to support. he was encouraging people to vote either way. he just wanted to let people know how he was going to vote. that is about as mild and endorsement as you can give. host: in terms of moving people to the ballot box, do you think coach bobby knight's endorsement of donald trump was perhaps a better get in the state? guest: bobby knight is at one point in time was fairly reviewed in the state of indiana. it has been about 20 years since

he has had any real impact on the state. at that point in time, we have gotten tired of his holy and behavior -- bullying behavior with the press and the fans. i guess i would say it's absolutely no surprise to me that he would support comes from. they -- that he would support donald trump. they are two peas in a pod when it comes to boorish behavior. i do not think his endorsement will have any impact in the state of indiana. host: let's go to our line for democrats. melvin is on the line in fort lauderdale, florida. caller: when you are talking about industry and all the jobs lost in indiana, how come that no one brings up the fact that donald trump from the new york clothing district since all his clothing lines overseas? he is talking about how he's going to bring back in industry from china and mexico and whatever.

he actually sent his clothing line over there for them to actually perform the tasks of making the product. i really do not understand why forget that when they talk about trump and the rhetoric. host: craig dunn? guest: sometimes good politicians make good magicians. of every magician is to get you looking at one hand while the other hand is making things disappear or ap or. -- appear. that is largely the case with donald trump. he has made statements that i do not believe can be supported with fact. rationalnal and -- a and positions that i do not think it ever be borne out in the united states c. and yet, unless the press will

hold his feet to the fire and ask for specific details, such as this gentleman is suggesting, i think you may get away with it. it is very important to ask questions such as, how are you going to afford a 50 foot wall across the united states border? we do not have the money to pay for that. are you really going to deport 11 million immigrants here in the united states, round them up door-to-door? i do not think we are going to do that in the united states. are we going to abrogate our treaties with our trading partners? i do not think that is going to happen. if you want to see the discomfort and anger of the voters like we saw was some of the unfulfilled promises that the tea party made back in 2010 and a lot of the candidates who pandered to the tea party in 2010, i think you'll see even greater anger when they realized that the president is somewhat limited in what he can do and he still has that pesky congress to deal with.

i think point like this are very valid. there are inconsistencies in donald trump's record. --ther it's gone on her show gun ownership or right to life, he is waffled quite a few times to that. media holdnational his feet to the fire, i will hold fox news to that. they're pretty much given him a past to his inconsistencies. when they ask him a question, he is totally vilify them to be point where they are coward bed by it. host: let's go to frank in new jersey. caller: good morning. how are you today? i have a question on cruz. five no problem with the press theing trump's feet to fire, but as for ted cruz

abolishing the internal revenue service, how can he possibly abolish the irs? you have corporations like ibm and at&t and such that file corporate tax returns. you have partnerships and trust and the like. you have employers who pay payroll taxes, file hundreds of millions of you have brokerage forms that one and 90 nines -- 1099 stocks and bonds. my question is, why hasn't the press put cruz's feet to the fire on a statement that he is going to abolish the internal revenue service? host: who are you supporting a republican primary? caller: i don't know yeah. host: craig dunn, go ahead.

guest: this is another one of those issues that campaign -- that candidates make on the campaign trail that the reality may be greater than the campaign. that 30 years from now, we will have the irs no matter who is elected president. you are going to be around. -- they are going to be around. i don't think we have to have revenue. there will be those who always try to avoid that revenue collection. just for that reason alone, you will need the irs. the size might be arguable. here we go with a simple filing status that would require a flat rate tax that you could file on the proverbial --

certainly, and enforcement in fancifulhose areas is to think that can't be done. host: mary, good morning. you're on with craig dunn. caller: i was going to ask, if bernie sanders happens to be the nominee for the democrat, how many points ahead or behind other republican candidate? you that it was during president clinton's time that china was brought into the wbo. it took a lot of jobs from united states to china. ison't think hillary clinton going to be any different. i think bernie sanders is the only one who is really willing to fight for old and young, and the common man. , you know, that is not being brought out.

host: craig dunn. same: i would say on that -- polling head-to-head, bernie sanders would be all three public and candidates -- beat all three rick public and -- all three republican candidates. when a sharp contrast is made between capitalistic approaches to running our economy and socialistic methods of running our economy, i think you would see a clear diversions and the american public. when those -- clear diversions in the american public. everyone knows nothing is free. you would see which candidate which -- that bernie sanders went up against. bill is in lansing,

michigan. bill, good morning. i would like the gentleman to tell me, the republican party has spent $70 million running negative as against donald trump. what do you expect his negatives to be? he is in your party. what kind of crazy people are you anyway? run by ahe country is bunch of communists. the only difference between our , theyment and russia's have a one headed monster, and we have a two headed monster. the republican party has not spent a single dime against any candidate or for any candidate. our party does not do that. we have a bottom-up, grassroots

republican party, both on the state level and on a national level, and our parties are neutral from that standpoint and haven't spent a single dime. now the gentleman saying there have been republicans, particularly some of the wealthy ones that have funded special pa cks. he has a valid point. they have. that is not the republican party. the republican party just does not do that. that is a huge mess -- myth. there is no republican party establishment that is planning the outcome of this presidential race. if we had, -- if we had that kind of a powerful organization, do you really think we would allow to start off with 17 candidates and turned into the circus that it has? i don't think so. there is no doubt that there are people that have used their

financial resources against donald trump. by the same token, or are people who user financial resources to remove donald trump. i don't see any problems with it. but i promise him, the republican party itself, nowhere has used its financial resources or against any candidate. host: first donald trump ready for the republican primary to be over with him as a nominee. he started targeting hillary clinton in comments he has made. he was on fox news yesterday as well. here is an exchange with chris wallace about some of the comments felt up made about hillary clinton. [video clip] >> to say -- it was a senator, secretary of state four years. to say if she was a man she would not run. isn't that dismissive? said worseanders

than that. that she is not qualified to run. that she is not capable. bernie sanders, what he said was a lot worse than what i said. i am going to use that. bernie sanders said she should not be allowed to run. that she is not capable. and what he said is incredible. it is a sound bite. as soon as he said it, they broke in and said, i can just imagine donald trump watch these remarks that bernie sanders is making about clinton. she is a strong person. she should be able to take it. the only card she has is a woman's card. she has done a lousy job. even women don't like her. it is a woman's card and she plays it. i will let you know in six months if she plays it well. i don't think she will play it well at all. it is true, if she weren't a woman, she would not be in this race. thoughtsig dunn, your on donald trump saying clinton is find the woman lost -- the

woman's card. doing a verynot good job of keeping her from playing the woman's card. some of the things he is saying is unprofessional. you couldn't expect hillary clinton not to take advantage. you play the hand you're dealt. qualifications, i would say she has a resume of jobs she has done. that does not necessarily say she has done those jobs well. fact, if she would happen to be elected president, it would be the classic, quintessential of the peter principle of rising to your level of incompetence. she is there. have the job titles along the way, but her levels of accomplishment, each of those steps have been fraught with continuous, liberal spending, gun-control advocacy, every

liberal policy you can possibly .ush, she has done that secretary of state was one disaster after another. i think donald trump is right for not respect, but, it is probably a good strategy to focus on women. they represent over 50% of our voting base. he has created a fertile environment to try to take those voters away from the republican party. host: back to the phones. tom is in virginia. caller: good morning. i want to make a comment on illegal immigrants. somehow, likeas , [indiscernible]

i am against donald trump. i don't know why he is so against john kasich, because he is one of the best candidates. in differentence areas. he would be the one who can take us to win in november. i am a woman. but i don't vote for hillary. i agree with the gas. -- i agree with the guest. host: all right. issue ofn, on the illegal immigration and how it is playing in the primary, particularly in indiana? --st: i don't really think

it is a safe issue for both cruz and trump to express their opinions on. their view is not too terribly different -- donald trump is putting a lot of his efforts into the construction of a wall to wall people out. walls don't really do that. that is without consideration of the financial implications of it. but ted cruz has made no secret of the fact that he believes we need -- before we look at any pathway to legal residency in the united states, we need to tie illegal immigrants to united states and step up border enforcement and reverse the obama policy, that has made an open door to the southern border. on the subject of a wall, and who is going to pay for the wall . the whole issue of are we really

going to deport 11 million people from united states? control, we can't drugs. we couldn't control illegal imports of alcohol and we will not be able to control 11 million people, round them up, and ship them out. i know that is a concern of people who are living here in the united states without proper documentation. i think there is a copper path for us -- i think there is a proper path for us to advocate and hopefully after this election is over, we will arrive at some conclusion. it is serving a divisive issue. this has been donald trump's entire strategy from the very beginning. the illegal immigrants offer a group of people that he can anyck and beat on without real, strong ramifications at the polls in the republican primary. he can vilify them and make them the ones that are taking the jobs away from us and take on the chinese and the mexican,

.ight on down the line and they don't have those voting rights in our primary, so it is a safe issue for him. it becomes a little more problematic in the fall and i think that is what we are going to be dealing with. one of my great concerns is chairman ryan's, did an extensive look at what our party needed to do to expand itself, to appeal to the majority of the voters in the united states, and donald trump has taken every single point of that and has done everything he could to destroy that ability to do it. , notis my major concern only just the electability in november, but the long-term, by ability of the republican party. it host: a reminder to our viewers, if you want to hear from the candidates themselves, we are covering a couple of campaign rallies ahead of indiana's primary tomorrow at tonight, -- at 7:00

tonight, donald trump will be in south bend, indiana. ted cruz will be holding a campaign rally in indianapolis. we will be airing that live at 7:30 here on c-span. we had a few more minutes with craig dunn as we talk about indiana politics looking ahead to tomorrow's gop primary. .pecial line for indiana we will head to joan from rockville, maryland. good morning. guest i don't think your has been fair to ted cruz's flat tax. -- 10% non endorsed payroll taxes. felt that this will encourage the economy to a great point like it did with reagan. cruz is the only viable conservative since ronald reagan.

he is not going to be a big spender. we need him because this debt is going to destroy america. we are all going to wind up paying a 90% -- all wind up paying 90% of our income to pay for the debt. thank you. host: craig dunn. guest: i agree wholeheartedly with your caller. my point was even if we do have a flat tax, i don't think it is very viable that we will completely be able to eliminate the internal revenue service. you still have to have a collection efforts, but her comments relative to the debt and spending and the unfairness and multiple layers of the united states tax code are valid. we do need a dramatic restructuring of our tax code. host: curtis is waiting in new hampshire, and republican. good morning. you're on with craig dunn. caller: good morning. i would like to speak on an

issue that i think is important and i think it is obvious, but i don't think -- i don't see anyone speaking on it. -- it seems like the neoconservative movement is to back hillary. wrecked the republican party and destabilize the middle east, now they are going to switch back to democrat, which is their natural home. thank you. host: any thoughts? see the "neocon" moving to hillary clinton. in fact, i think the republican party will be like many large families. you have different beliefs inside a large family. fussing, andpping, fighting. when it comes down to some other family in the neighborhood taking on one of your siblings, you are going to band together and go to war together.

i think that is what we are going to see in the fall. whoever emerges from the republican party as our candidate, i believe we will support them and we will put great effort in. i know there is a lot of talk -- theirs group publican party and one poorly, it doesn'tstates, benefit of settlor betake our marbles and go home and don't dissipate in the process. i will support whoever our candidate is in the fall and do what i can do to pick the best candidate to win in november and to influence our candidates as much as possible to expand their publican party to make sure that all americans are included -- that all republicans are included and americans are included. writes in --cks just curious, what is a hoosier? guest: the etymology of that

word goes back into the early 1800s and it seems that the common consensus is as people would be migrating to indiana heading west, in the middle of the night, as wagons would approach each other, you would approach a house along the road, someone would call out, who is is there>- who was ? it kind of got slurred to hoosier. it is a term of in german. endearment.erm of hoosieraig dunn, is a with the -- with how it takes

politics c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up tuesday morning, tony cook, reporter for the indianapolis star. taking place tomorrow in indiana. 52 delegates are up for grabs and 92 for the democrats. then come of the political editor for the national journal will preview tomorrow's primary on the road ahead for campaign 2016. and the founder of mike will join us from new york to discuss the news site. he sure to watch c-span's washington journal beginning live every morning at 7:00 a.m. discussion on the challenges facing afghanistan's

government. and then a look at human rights in north korea. with that, two events republican candidates are ahead of the indiana primary. first, senator ted cruz is in indianapolis, indiana followed by donald trump talking to voters in south bend, indiana. coming up on tuesday, consumer advocates and representatives from the credit card industry discuss credit card chip technology. you can see this event, live at noon eastern. later, a discussion on the challenges of transporting energy and hazardous materials. pipeline and hazardous materials at thetrator will speak center for strategic and international studies. live at 1:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. i helped both countries with

their constitutions being a facilitator of an agreement on key issues among iraqis or afghans. the influence is considerable. heads of state are anxious to meet with you. q&a, the night on ambassador to iraq and the united nations discusses his memoirs. we saw that the extremists correctedthe we then it towards the end of the timeframe that i was there by the surge and reaching out to the sunnis and building up iraqi forces and establishing a unity government. extremists at the end to bring about security, violent was way down.

when we left, a vacuum was filled. and the violence escalated. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. campaign 2016ur us data visit to pennsylvania during the primary stopping at grove city college, slippery rock university. students, professors, and local officials learned about our coverage and the interactive resources. visitors were also able -- were also able to share their thoughts on the campaign. we also visited a middle school to honor seventh graders. a special thanks to our cable partners for their help in coordinating these community visits. you can visit -- you can view all of the winning documentaries. >> former afghan interior

minister and other scholars discuss the political, international, and security challenges facing the afghanistan government. event was hosted by the middle east institute. >> good afternoon, everybody. i'm the director of programs and government relations at the middle east institute. i am pleased to welcome you all to today's discussion under the title political and security crises in afghanistan. gratified by the turnout and media interest today. thank you for being here. if you see empty seats to either side of you, please feel free to move in away from the aisles.

we always have late arrivals and we would like to accommodate everybody. this is an event in the middle east institute lewis r hughes lecture series. we are grateful to mr. hughes for his generous support of our programming on policy issues in afghanistan. , you'll beoday hearing about the sustainability and legitimacy of afghanistan's national unity government, an issue very much in the news and has powerful implications for the future of u.s. and coalition military engagement. before i introduce our moderator, i want to urge you all to take a look at the website right after this event is over and register for a discussion tomorrow that mei is

cosponsoring with the conflict management program. will speak on his new book "arab spring." him will be joining leipsen.es and -- tomorrow, tuesday, may 3 from 4:30 until 6:00 p.m. now it is my pleasure to introduce the moderator of today's panel, dr. marvin while brown marvin is a distinguished scholar whose experience includes fulbright research fellowships in egypt and afghanistan. he directed a program in south asia and and middle eastern studies at the university of illinois for 15 years, has

worked in the department of state, and is a prolific author of articles and book chapter. marvin saw the importance for u.s. interest in addressing our topic today and has recruited a panel of remarkable and diverse expertise to do so. marvin will introduce the panelists and leave the conversation with them and with you, taking the questions over the coming 90 minutes or so. marvin: thank you for coming in today. >> we have a good deal of media coverage today so i ask you to please turn off your cell phones. thank you. it is a pleasure that -- to see that we have interest but why we be surprised? because what is happening in afghanistan today leads so many of us to say "is this a period of crisis?"

those of us who have been following afghanistan, we regularly say we are entering some kind of period of some decisive developments that will determine the future of the government and the state. but i think we would all agree that very recently, there have been a number of developments which seem, in this year, to have created circumstances which lead us to believe that somehow, we have reason to worry more about afghanistan, about its government, and issues of security. the economy, and, of course, we want to address all of those today. i am sure we will have an opportunity. our format is not going to be a series of speakers, but rather that i will pose a series of

questions. we will therefore be encouraging among our panelists discussion. and we have a superb panel to do just that. to my right, scott smith, who most of you know for his time heading the afghanistan program at the u.s. institute of peace. he has now left us for the u.n., returned to the u.n., where he is involved in mediation efforts . very befitting his skills. to his right is omar samad, who is also well known here, as well as in afghanistan. he is recently returned from afghanistan after having been named a designate ambassador in belgium. he has chosen, however,

to join us and we are pleased, here, omar has been ambassador to france, canada, and most recently has been a close advisor to dr. abdullah. michael kugelman, to his right, is another familiar face -- they all are -- here in washington. with the south asia program at the the wilson center. he has organized so many panels. and as you know from his own moderating of panels, how well he is able to address afghanistan and pakistan and south asia in general. finally, ali jalali. ali has been, in the past, a long past with afghanistan,

which includes military service and was, really in the karzai administration, minister of the interior but is currently a distinguished professor at the national defense university here in washington. ali is a very serious player in afghanistan. he is more than simply an observer. he is someone who participates actively in the affairs of afghanistan. i do not know that we could have a panel, honestly, about afghanistan today without having ali jalali join us. with that, as an introduction, let me start. that is to say, gentlemen, what makes this year different?

what is now being posed by coming events, previous events, that suggest that we ought to be paying greater attention then perhaps we have over the next few months? who would like to start us off? jalali: thank you. good to be here again. in any country, anyplace, you have to look at the context first. context, political concepts, it

in afghanistan have changed. -- can you hear me now or should i project? there are a number of factors in afghanistan. first, the international forces left afghanistan at the end of 2015. that was the end of combat mission by international forces. second, afghanistan has to deal with the security by its own capacity and forces, which are still in transition. although the country has a sizable army and police force, but it was developed as interdependent on international forces financially and in operation. that dependence is still there. that is why you have capability gaps in the national security

forces of afghanistan. there will be a need for assistance from outside. third, the taliban and other insurgents and terrorists are using or trying to exploit the situation of the departure of international forces from afghanistan. assuming that they can do better with the afghanistan national security forces. third is economy. the economy of afghanistan was dependent on international presence, to some extent. years ago, the service sector of the afghanistan economy was 50%. by the departure of international forces and contractors and others, that market, the service market, contracted.

at the same time, it caused unemployment and also a deduction of state revenue. finally, in the region, some countries believe that with the torture of international forces, they can influence afghanistan to get a better deal -- with the departure of international forces, they can influence afghanistan to get a better deal. the factors that shaped the situation in afghanistan has global, regional, and domestic mentions.

amb. samad: in order of age, if you want to look at it that way -- thank you, marvin, for the invitation. i think that minister jalali's assessment is correct. i want to look at it from another angle, which is today is shaped by what we have seen the last 15 years, especially by the transition of 2014, which was an extremely difficult and challenging transition on different levels, political, security, and economic. there is a fourth level people do not talk about often. that is psychological, which we did not manage well, both afghans and internationals. 2015 was expected to be the year of some level of positive change on all these different accounts.

2015, to the dismay of many of us and to the surprise of some, it turned out to be a difficult year. for the afghan people, to begin with, the afghan forces, national security forces. for the newly formed national unity government in kabul. for the economy that schrock and the bubbles that burst after so many years of keeping the economy afloat. we realized it was artificial. finally, the regional context has been shifting. we hope for some real change and real strategic shift, especially with regards to pakistan. for a while, we bought a new

government in kabul, new --dership might crack in the crack the nit. -- nut. it did not. we are seeing there is so much more that needs to be done and it is not that simple and easy. the expectation that developed over 2014 and before that -- and i am not going to dwell, at this stage, how mr. karzai handle this transition and what he left behind for the rest of us -- but this transition obviously has not resulted in what most of us expected. some of us saw some of the fault lines and tried our best to convey that and express that and tried to find ways to mend them and correct the course. some of us were too optimistic. some of us heightened expectations of the very beginning for unnecessary reasons and are paying the

political price for that today. all of these things are going on at the same time over a very short period of time, given a government's lifespan. today, we are talking about how fragile is this government, how fragile is afghanistan, what will happen next, should we talk about alternatives, should we talk about plan b's, c's, and so forth. this is, in a nutshell. mr. smith: omar is right to i do not know that afghanistan, in 2016, is it more fragile than in 2015 or even 2014. what has changed -- and relevant from where we sit in washington -- is we have come to the end of our wishful thinking.

what we learned in 2014 and 2015 now convinces us that the dynamics in the national unity government significantly improve. the taliban are probably not going to comment to the negotiating table. the afghan security forces will not be the miracle we had hoped and to some degree convinced ourselves it would be. and elections will probably not happen in 2016. that leaves us with no real way out of what was supposed to be the beginning of an emergence of a slightly abnormal constitutional situation that we are in now. that is why we are looking at alternatives. we have run out of the optimistic scenarios we once

had. that is what is sinking in and making 2016 a particularly challenging and different year, even though the fundamentals may not change that much. mr. kugelman: i imagine we will discuss how things are going to be getting worse, etc., which is true. but to start with context, things are bad, but it is not hold. for -- all bad. there are plenty of people that did not expect the national unity government to get as far as far as it has now. obviously, it has. and for all the talk of a deepening taliban insurgency, the taliban has suffered setbacks, including the other day in kandahar. a major operation killed several dozen taliban pfizer's. you also have often special forces that have been distinguishing themselves on the battlefield. that said, i would highlight three changes that are making existing challenges more difficult.

one, there is a new urgency -- sense of urgency pervading politics in afghanistan because of the national university -- national unity government's agreement, which stipulated certain things happen by a certain time, specifically september of this year. one could argue there is a clock is ticking dynamic that could amplify the fractures -- fra ctious nature of the political environment in afghanistan. secondly, there have been taller than victories, -- taliban of victories, like the takeover of kanduz. third, you have quite a few afghans leading the country, including from the middle class. these are things that happened in the past and are happening again today. it is difficult to start to deal with the deeper challenges afghanistan faces when a number of your best and brightestaded -- and brightest are headed for the exit.

>> let's look specifically at the national unity government, formed a little over a year and half ago. how have these developments we have been talking about specifically affected the possibility of survival of this government? accounts, ashraf ghani, who had a popular beginning, has eroded. we hear there is a lack of confidence now, which has grown. so in answering this, i wonder if we could address what it is he could have done differently and what can he now do to assure the survival of this government another three and half years?

amb. samad: having spent almost a year and a half in that unity government, i am unfortunately not at liberty to say much. but to give you some perspective, i can say that i think this was meant to be -- i do not want to go into the why it has value -- everyone has their own theories in how this came about. we leave that to history to judge. but once it came about, it was meant to follow a certain recipe and a certain set of guidelines, and it has not. for those of us who have been inside the system, we know, by now, why and what are the motivations. some of it is very distressing. some of it has to do with petty politics aow