of congress. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal is next. host: good morning from washington, d.c., where it is 7:00 a.m. eastern standard time. a live look at the u.s. capitol. on theance of power also ballot tuesday. we are less than 48 hours before voting begins in the east. more than 40 million already casting early ballots. the final stretch of this long and caustic campaign coming to an end. we will have live roads to the white house covers concluding tomorrow evening with the candidate rallies and then tuesday night election return. welcome to "washington journal."

our opening question, politics in the united states based on -new yorkt cbs news times the survey. we are asking you to complete this question. the state of american politics is, fill in the blanks. we have a line for third parties. good sunday morning to you and a orinder to send us a tweet join us on facebook. this is the headline of the washington post. a look at states which is where the candidates will be today, tonight, tomorrow, and into early tuesday morning with a lot of focus on states like ohio and north carolina.

a last-minute effort by democrats in michigan. eight states yesterday alone. the new york times has a story about politics in the u.s. here is part of what the new york times is writing based in part on a new survey conducted with cbs news. more than eight in 10 voters say the campaign has left them ed rather than excited. trump beington and seen as dishonest and unfavorably by a majority of voters. [video clip] >> coverups and scandal have finally caught up with hillary clinton. hillary clinton is under fbi investigation again after here e-mails were found on anthony weiner's laptop. secretss most sensitive

exposed my eloquent to, her step, and anthony weiner? hillary cannot lead a nation while people by an investigation. hillary clinton, unfit to serve. >> i am donald trump, and i approve this message. host: that is from the donald trump campaign. let me go back to this "new york times" piece which talks about voters expressing their overall discussed in american politics. the story from the new york times. republicans with concerns about the standard on the eve of this election. this fromother ad, the hillary clinton campaign aimed at donald trump. [video clip] is atting it like to work very dangerous thing.

when i come home and dinner is not ready, i go through the roof. when you are a celebrity, they let you do it. accusers going forward to say they were sexually assaulted by donald trump. show andstage before a everyone was getting dressed. >> you walked into a dressing room while some contestants were changing. >> a person who is flat-chested is very hard to be attacked. >> you treat women with respect? >> i cannot say that either. >> good. host: our question is complete

the sentence. the state of american politics is, what? here's more from the survey. 85% of republican voters said the party was divided. 14% said it was united. is said hillary clinton honest and trustworthy. the story available online, new york times.com. voters express disgust. this tweet. the state of american politics has one us out. let's hear from jerry in detroit. good morning all the democrats line. caller: good morning and greetings yet again from motown. i think the state of american politics has been pretty caustic simply because donald trump has made it so. speaking as a 51-year-old black

man, he talked about all the problems in the democrat won cities, and it would not have made a difference what party ran those cities. i am asking probably the white people who will be calling on the republican line, if these problems are so bad, what makes them think a white republican will do any better? i doubt if any african-americans will embrace the white conservatism of donald trump and his wife supporters -- white supporters. host: let's go to michelle on the republican line joining us from minneapolis. good morning. caller: good morning. boy oh boy. i agree with this article. i think the current state is sad, this disgusting. how can we have picked these two people? i am exhausted.

i am a republican, and frankly, i cannot vote for hillary clinton. i think she is corrupt. i think what the democrats have done to bernie sanders is disgusting. you would think you are reading about the kgb with all of these shenanigans they pulled an all of the things that wikileaks e-mails, the hacking is exposing. on the republican side, i kept on telling my family members vote for somebody who can beat hillary. do not vote out of anger. vote for someone who can win. i don't know. i don't know what i am going to do on tuesday. host: michelle, thanks for the call. from the pole, here is a recent survey looking at the numbers. there's campaign more negative than past campaigns. 83% say it has been more negative. 3% say more positive.

13%, about the same. let's go to jail in north charleston, south carolina. good morning, joe. caller: hey, how are you doing? host: i am fine. how are you? caller: i'm fine. i called on the third party line. i resort or a because the division party, but i think the state of politics in the u.s. is pretty deplorable right now. look at the two candidates of the prime parties. if that is not indicative of the problems we have in this country, we have hillary with the scandals surrounding her and the outrageous donald trump. i am saddened by the state of politics. i wish we could get stronger candidates from other parties. as money control columbia controlled, that is what we are -- as money control, media control, that is what we are.

i am a a c-span because it maintained fair balance. yesterday's show had a show exclusive to african-americans. that is fine. i'm white. i begin to think, how about native americans, hawaiian americans, latino americans, the inuit? isn't it unfair to have a show exclusive to african-americans and not shows exclusive to other people who do their opinions not count? eaves is way unintentional into the whole show. i will end with this. i will watch tuesday. we will know pretty soon. you know and everybody knows that trump has to have florida. if you take florida, i will watch all night. if he does not come in the game is over. i will put in a good movie and watch c-span the next day. always appreciate you, steve. host: thank you, thank you for

making a point. have an is to always engaging and thoughtful and diapers engage in, but we appreciate your opinion. we appreciate it. let me go back to the "new york times story. the outset of the next term. mrs. clinton has an it in the survey because of the commanding advantage among women and nonwhite voters. if she wins, clinton will enter the white house to face immediate governing challenges not only from the deep partisanship ruling, but a large number of mr. trump's supporters who say they are not prepared to accept the results. if you're listening to c-span radio, this program carries live on the potus channel. we are asking the question. the state of american politics is, what?

finish the sentence. this is from a viewer think it is exactly like the founding fathers wanted. here is a tweet. in duluth, bob minnesota, on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i think politics right now is all. -- awful. i think there is to reasons for it -- two reasons for it. the media ratings is what helped trump. the telecommunications act allow the media to consolidate. now there is a few central owners of the media. you don't have a diverse media anymore. it is controlled by big money. ratingsthat the perpetuated trump into the situation using. the other side is money and

politics. politics is the reason why we have hillary instead of bernie sanders. tose two things are going goof up politics in the future also because they need to break up the media outlets just like they need to break up the banks. host: thank you for the call. ets the state.e of politics is just as dysfunctional as it has always been. another from brian. i will be the best bad president. nobody does bad better than me, believe me. finally, from james. let's go to jeff joining us from pittsburgh, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i very pleased with the way

politics is done. i am a proud trump supporter. i think he finally has opened up the american people to the establishment of the republicans and democrats. they are all for globalization. they don't want a sovereign america. they want their little country club at the top and exclude the people. it is the people in the government and i and black glad trump woke them up. anyone who can vote for hillary clinton, all you have to do is go to trey gowdy questioning james comey, it is lie after lie by hillary clinton. she is a no and morally bankrupt liar. anyone who votes for her should be ashamed of yourself. host: thank you. the state of american politics is indicative of an empire in decline.

this is from reuters this morning. federal officials have warned authorities in new york, texas, virginia about unspecific threats that attacks by al qaeda militants on election day putting local law enforcement officials on alert days before the vote. a government source saying some federal agencies since bulletins to local and state officials citing information about the threat was low-level. authorities in new york city, new jersey continue high-level control in place, according to a spokesperson. officials declined to offer specifics on the warnings, but the threat report lacks specifics, but is still being assessed. threat to theaeda election. -- a warning of al qaeda threat to the election.

frank from fort lauderdale, florida, independent line, good morning. base for being with us. caller: good morning. i was watching this, and what are the things that goes in my mind was i was originally a jim webb supporter. webb's experience in government is comparable to hillary clinton. it was secretary of the navy as she was secretary of state, and he was a vietnam veteran and had a son who served in iraq. one of the things that bothers me is we'll have a report consecutive president who will not have any appreciable military service, three of which had none at all. a country that is as hour looking as the united states, i think it is not only a plus, but a necessity. right now, a lot of the public is not focused on something like and even though i like what donald trump says regarding veterans issues, he is right on on some of the stuff. jim webb is selling his support rowingald trump -- th

his support to donald trump. i will go with webb because he made that recommendation. the military has been somewhat ignored in the overall context of u.s. foreign-policy. a division as big and important as ours has to look at that. that is what i have to say. host: thank you for waiting in from south florida, key battleground state. this is from "the miami herald." nearly half of florida's voters have already voted. no lines, wait, fuss. they awoke early yesterday morning to cast their ballots ahead of tuesday's election. nearly 6 million floridians have already voted early by person or mail -- in person or by mail. that counts for less than half of all registered voters in florida, the biggest of the battleground states nationwide. early voting began on october 24

and will conclude today in time for many black churches traditionally to urge the vote. pam is joining us from livonia, michigan. the president will be back in michigan tomorrow to try to secure the state for democrats. it has now become a battleground state. what do you think the state of american politics is? caller: i think it is flawed. i truly do because the democratic party, every policy they passed in the past, they it to deplete the working-class. every promise they made cost everybody like me trying to work. the prices keep going up to pay for these gifts they are given to the people that are not working. people need to wake up. every promise they give is costing the working person more money out of their paycheck.

i think it is flawed. i think they should be pulling olling people that work is that of going after the minority people who are not working. they are the ones picking our president. host: thank you for the call. michael has this tweet. tweet -- send us a tweet. we will show you distorted a a story that broke last night. security rushing trump off stage after a disturbance in the ground. chaos broke out after scuffle with a protester. someone yelled "gun."

people who witnessed the incident say it broke out when a person of your to raise a sign in protest of donald trump. this is what it looks like in reno, nevada. shortly later, trump came out and finished his speech. a statement from donald trump to thinki would like the united states secret service and law-enforcement services in reno and the state of nevada for their fast and professional response." that this morning from the trump campaign after the incident yesterday in reno, nevada. marilyn is joining us. good morning. caller: hello. i think the state of american politics is an obstruction. it has been to the entire obama campaign.

it the reason he has done anything with the obstruction he has faced. , confirm not nominate the smallest offices of appointees he is given. they will not fill our supreme court. they are only making plans for the obstruction that they are going to do once hillary is elected. donald trump himself is a big obstruction. we cannot even see our republican party. i am a democrat. his big campaign is in the way spewing falsehood and ignorance that the entire system is obstructed right now. i have hope that this strategy speech, andmp's over and over he talked about how terrible things are and how

bad things have gotten in the country in the last eight years. it is ostensibly his own party if it really is his party, who has been in power in both houses of congress for the past two, four years. so i have hope for the future that this strategy of obstruction is going to play itself out and the public will turn against him, against the people who refused to pass down laws. that is the state of american politics today as i see it. host: we will have live coverage beginning at 8:00 eastern time tuesday evening, 5:00 for those of you on the west coast, as a result begin to come in from the east. we will be with you all night and all day wednesday with the results, victory and concession speeches, and the balance of power in the house and senate. we hope you tune in tuesday night beginning at 8:00 eastern time. "washington journal" will get underway 6:00 a.m. wednesday

morning. we would hear from democratic and republican party officials in congress who will be talking about what is next as the new congress begins to take shape for 2017. this is a front-page story of the "n york times." donald trump maintaining a brisk pace in conceding no territory. let's go to david, who is joining us from middletown, new jersey, independent line. good morning. the state of politics is what, david? caller: good morning, c-span, that question on television. host: we have not heard from you in a while. where have you been? caller: i was in the hospital, i am sorry to say. i have been watching. i have tried to get on a couple of times but was not able to get through, but i think what is happening in the country today is terrible. voted inow, i have

every federal, state, and almost every municipal election since president harry truman. i have never ever seen the country in the state it is right now. , most of thepeople members of congress do not represent the american people. they represent themselves. they represent the party. they represent the special interest. i have never seen what has been going on right now with the republicans and democrats. concerned as to what is happening in our great country. during my generation, they called us the greatest generation, the one word that describes my generation was the word "we." everybody worked together.

this was during world war ii. as you know, i am a world war ii veteran. host: i know. how old are you now, david? caller: 92. i will be 93 in january. host: happy early birthday. caller: thank you very much. the color of our flag was red, white, blue. unfortunately, today, the people of power, the color of the flat g is green. greedleads to greed, and leads to corruption. we have to keep people in power who speak in terms of we, not me. when we get back to the greatest generation, will be all right -- we will be all right.

i am with my children, grandchildren, and for all of the young people of our great country. host: you stay healthy, david, ok? caller: thank you. it was nice talking to you. the best to you and your family. host: thank you. always a pleasure. we will talk to you in a couple of weeks. don't be a stranger. stay healthy. this is from jason, who sent us this tweet. connie is joining us next from washington. good morning to you. caller: hi. i just wanted to say that i think the state of politics right now is probably the worst it has ever been, but i read a really good article in the new yorker october edition magazine, and it is called "presumptive.:" -- presumtive."

my whole family is military. we are all divided ourselves right now. not that we are fighting or feuding because we will not let that happen, but it is more seeing some of the atrocities going on. people going down the road and screaming one thing and screaming at each other. all not living together is supposed to be helping each other? what is going on with our politics? it really boils down to money and greed. everybody keeps screaming about clinton, and she has done all of these horrible things. look at the good things she has to. i'll see anything good trump has done -- i don't see anything good trump has to. -- done. i am just not finding it. hillary clinton, she has done way more.

i believe she will be stronger. people is a she is such a bad person because of the things her husband did. she has a stronger person what.e of is paid has offered through the years and has not brought to which he has. she has done what other women cannot do. host: thank you for the call. "becausee viewers say it was an honest republican, and that is why they left the party." this is from david. the state of american politics is terrible. vote trump to clean it up. oh alert yesterday noting that heading into today, two key voting groups who shifted to barack obama and gave him his landslide victory were not moving toward hillary clinton a few days before the election. trump will win if kids and

african-americans stay home. segment of thee electorate that propelled the president to win a big election in 2012. that this morning from "the washington times." . political parties out with new campaign ads this morning. [video clip] >> the progress we made is at stake in this election. tolerance is on the ballot. ther we have achieved turnout of 2008 in 2012, i will consider it a personal insult if this community fails to activate itself in the this election. you want to give me a good sendoff? go vote. >> this election is about a choice. we have a chance to put our future back into our own hands

to give us the right to educate our children and the schools we choose, to create investments where we need them most, to build better communities with jobs we create together, and where justice is our right. as is our choice, our opportunity. we are asking for your vote. vote republican. >> the republican national committee is responsible for this advertising. host: the latest on the campaign ads. the election is on tuesday night, and we are alive today and tomorrow into tomorrow evening for the final campaign rallies. among the events, hillary will be joined by president obama in philadelphia at 7:30 p.m. eastern time. after 8:00, donald trump will be in new hampshire. we welcome our c-span radio listeners. the question, the state of american politics is, what? jackie, good morning, democrats

line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. the state of the american , we have a candidate, donald trump, who has done everything in the books who could disqualify other candidates, and yet, there are masses of people rooting for him. i don't understand where these people are coming from. a assaulted women. he has been disrespectful to immigrants. as an immigrant, what he is seen as third world politics, where you threaten to imprison your opponent if you win. in my opinion, he is a dictator. most of us in this country and everybody in this country enjoys freedom, freedom of speech. but what donald trump is bringing to this country is a

dictatorship. i really hope the american people will wake up because previously, he was talking about "i." i know more than the generals. i am the only one who can fix things. he just started talking about we because he sees things against him. host: the "washington post." trump loves to mock losers. what happens if he becomes one? story also online. goldberg of "the national review" on his productions at the test of time says the following. we can predict with the destiny of the trump presidency would become, but we go into the country to give him his shot. i will be delighted to be proven wrong, but given that i believe the things i believe in, i do not have high hopes. is joining us from south

carolina, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. they say i say that am supposed to say what i think of american politics today. i think it as a swamp. donald trump is absolutely right. i would like to make a comment about hillary clinton. i think she is a treasonous lying cheat. republicans the portable deplorables. are you going to turn me off? host: you are still on the air. caller:. becausei think -- good i think anybody who votes for hillary clinton is morally bankrupt. i think that is worse than befor deplorables. year's your has been broken.

another tweet from richard. denise on the democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you c-span for taking my call. the state of american politics is beyond belief. i wanted to say a few things. i wanted to say that this shows how much we need term limits, how much we need to get money out of campaigns to someone from the working class can run and have a chance. i want to tell you that i have a republican friend that i can barely talk to. i am an independent voter. she and i can barely talk anymore. i want to say that on immigration, because we get going to this issue of immigration, and i really believe that it is mostly about mexicans, and i want to say that we are not going backwards in this country. everybody has to get used to that.

we are not going backwards. we are only going forward. this is a nation of immigrants. we have to get used to being americans and including everybody as an american. idols that coming from donald trump -- i don't see that coming from donald trump. you had a caller who said hillary clinton is a morally bankrupt liar, but what i want to say about his words is donald trump is morally bankrupt. think there is any debate about that. host: cities from roanoke, virginia -- denise from roanoke, virginia. the impact of the senate makeup in 2017. hassan, the state will determine who controls the senate, which is up for grabs. from go to jasper memphis, tennessee. caller: i would just like to see

that our politics have been corrupt and disrespectful to the american people since ronald reagan. they put each other down, call each other names. anybody that votes for donald trump, especially the poor southern working-class folks, they will not do a thing for you. republicans to call in and say the last 30 years, i want to know exactly what has the president done for working-class folks? understand working-class folks what do you get from your party? host:'s state of american politics is our question. this tweet from maverick. a new set of web videos from the clinton campaign. [video clip]

>> president trump's campaign sets off a firestorm. >> a shockwave truly political, global, and financial. saudi arabia with nuclear weapons. >> trump saying he would allow russia to run over the eastern european. >> donald trump will win. >> he is the victor by less than he is the victor by less than 1%. >> i am also honored to have the greatest temperament that anybody has. crap out of him, we? -- would you? >i would have hit this guy so

hard, his head would spin. the real issue in this campaign is the temperament of donald trump. is a vicious, horrible person. >> does not have the temperament. >> going after the khan family, a gold star family. >> fundamentally lacks the knowledge, the character, and temperament. i am also honored to have the greatest temperament that anybody has. host: the videos from the clinton campaign. we will show you the new trump ad enablement. this i-- in a moment.

this is from "politico." where to look for clues on from "theight washington post." maine, the second congressional district, these counties will determine the flow of the night. fromve a caller pennsylvania, john, republican line. both candidates campaigning in pennsylvania before tuesday. the state of american politics is what, john? caller: ina township supervisor here in pennsylvania -- i am a township supervisor here in pennsylvania. i went to comment on these e-mails for the state we are in. witness all came out -- when

this all came out a year ago, we set up our own e-mail accounts and got our own personal e-mail accounts out of our names. ethics clausean every year that states that we are our office. i just want to know why the ethics does not come into play in this region? who will win pennsylvania on tuesday? caller: i believe donald trump will win. host: what about your senate race? caller: i believe pat toomey will carry also. host: thanks very much for the call. let's go to don. good morning, your next. caller: good morning. how are you? host: fine.

how are you? caller: i believe both of these parties are so corrupt that we can see that what happened in iowa and six precincts where you have to toss a coin to see if it six -- they toss times, and all six times, it was hillary. you go to the republican side and see what they were pulling on donald trump when he first started running. i think he was more independent then republican -- than republican. it his so bad that people need to wake up because of what happened when ross perot was running. they said that he told the

people that there would be people losing their jobs, and it would go to the outside a lot. it would go to outside the country. this is what happened. tople just need to wake up help at these parties are -- how bad these parties are. the end of greatness with aaron that miller, and i think there should be a fourth one. that was eisenhower. maybe think about adding that in there because we have not had a great president, i am saying president, probably since eisenhower. all of this boggles my mind. host: we have to move on.

just a few more minutes left. this is a tweet from steve. let me go back to what the new york times -- the "new york times" is writing. in 10 voters saying the campaign has left that repulsed routed and excited. the toxicity threatens the victor. here is the latest from the trump campaign. [video clip] >> our movement is about replacing a pale and corrupt --= failed and corrupt political establishment with a government by you, the american people. the establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election.

for those who control the levers of power in washington and the global special interest, they partner with these people that do not have your good in mind. the political establishment that is trying to stop us is the same group responsible for our disastrous trade deals, massive illegal immigration, and economic and foreign policies that have bled our country dry. the political establishment has brought about the destruction of our factories and jobs as they flee to mexico, china, and other countries all around the world. it is a global power struggle that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working-class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities. the only thing that can stop

this corrupt machine is you. force strong enough to save our country is us. the only people brave enough to vote out the corrupt establishment is you, the american people. peopleing this for the and for the movement, and we will take back this country to you and make america great again. trump, and i approve this message. campaign. the trump this is from the sunday we can review, the "new york times" this week. a look at the state of the campaign on this election weekend eve.

clinton was in florida yesterday on the campaign trail, and from carolina, donald trump with his wife. let's go to robert from clayton, missouri, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: i find. -- i am fine. caller: my of reading of american politics is what i were for two as the rhythm of king solomon from the old testament in the bible. the point he point out is the root of all evil is money, and all failed empires in western civilization from egypt to the present day empire of our country, each of these people put money ahead of everything. same can be said about the roman empire. when i look in the dictionary,

each of these failed empires at one time thought they were invincible, but when he was the root of their destruction. our nation'sn the revisions history, when money to cover, we had problems. -- took over, we had problems. dwight eisenhower and general marshall at the end of world war ii, they showed benevolence to our enemies. what that did is put our country in respect greater than any country in the history of mankind, but we resorted back to using money, and that is what is destroying us. we cannot keep going this way, steve.

we have to get back to principles. host: thank you. another key senate race will be watching on tuesday, jason canada democrat challenging senator roy blunt. let's conclude with this tweet. "usa today" had a story on last night's opening skit on "saturday night live." forind ourselves longing the cliche beauty had answer -- pageant answer of world peace. [applause] [applause] >> it is time to get out there and vote.

none of this would have mattered if you do not vote. >> we cannot tell you who to vote for, but on tuesday, we get a chance to choose what kind of country we want to live in. >> live from new york, it is "saturday night live." host: that is how the program began last night. coming up in a couple minutes, the issue of religion and politics this sunday. joining us on this table will be d eric baxter.a an eric baxte reid wilson to talk about the campaign ads. guests, denise and thomas, both talking about whether this election can be rigged in any way.

he is a preview of "newsmakers." >> is it even possible? an you want to rig election, how would you do it? >> a lot less are spending our heads to see what this implies. we are trying to see every scenario we can't that would mean-- can that would there is a sense of a lot of illegal voting. that is kind of hard to imagine how that would happen given there has been a long fight over voter id requirements in this country, and what it comes down to is a lot of us feel that making sure that every eligible citizens can vote is the most important goal we all share. is how you get there that is the question. that is behind the fight of what we need to identify someone as a voter.

something like that, and that on a grand scale, is hard to imagine. >> rigging the election is something a lot of folks have talked about in terms of people casting votes who should not be or suppressing the vote by preventing other people from casting their ballots. one thing i want to ensure with the way these scenarios are being described, you need an army of tens of thousands if not millions of people to pull off the rigging of the election. the machines are not hooked up to the internet. they are secured by election officials and poll workers. guidelines on securing voting equipment. if you to ensure that have any sort of suspicion that those things are taking place, you need to report those because

it is still a felony to commit voter fraud. is a felony to suppress people's votes. we want to ensure that. it is something local law enforcement would participate in or the department of justice, or a number of advocacy groups you can call to express your opinion if you feel that the vote is being rigged. host: "newsmakers" airs after "washington journal." we look at whether there is any way the election can be rigged. 7:00 for those of you on the west coast. you can listen to it on c-span radio. our sunday roundtable focusing on religion and politics. elizabeth wydra is the president of the constitutional center, which is what? guest: a nonprofit law firm in the public interest that focuses on promoting progressive promise

of the constitution, so we do that through litigation in the lower courts and focus on issues that range across the constitutional portfolio, whether it is criminal justice, the environment, federalism, marriage equality, affirmative action, immigration. we do the whole spectrum, and we focus on something that is of important interest rate now, judicial nomination. host: eric baxter is senior counsel for the becket fund. guest: is a public interest law firm. we represent people of all faiths from a to z. we defended the rights of sikh two serving the military without giving up their rights of faith. we believe that religious freedom is essential to human

dignity, so we are proud to defend religious liberty of all people, all faiths in the federal court. host: elizabeth wydra, when you get your reaction to this -- let me get your reaction to this tweet. , whopeal from mike pence has talked about being born again. he is a republican vice presidential nominee. your reaction to that. his appeal to churches around the country. guest: sorry. i thought he was going to give the appeal. ok. obviouslyi think that the places where people come together and convert are places congregate are places where they talk about issues. where we get into trouble is that churches like many charitable organizations are tax exempt, which means not only do they not have to pay

income tax on their own income, but that people who make donations to the churches and other charitable donations, tend to deduct those from their own taxes. the government is saying we will give you this tax subsidy, been returned, we will not subsidize political activities, so not campaigning explicitly for or against a particular candidate, for or against a particular measure. you can talk about the important issues, but not engage in actual because therings governments that we do not want to subsidize that political speech. we want to subsidize the great work you do in the public interest. host: levied take that one step further. he wasyndon johnson, running for reelection in the u.s. senate.

guest: is absurd to think we would give the irs power and penalize religious organizations for speaking their mind on important issues. throughout ourrs history since the american revolution have spoken truth to power, abolishing slavery, racial equality, defending or promoting prison rehabilitation program, the wholeness. do of these things religions and organizations are an enormous benefit to taxpayers in our country, and we cannot give the irs power to censor sermons when they think the leader has crossed a vague line about what is politically acceptable or not. when they are sticking to their congregations about religious issues, whether that involves

political candidates or not, they should be free from the threat of irs punishing them for their political views. host: congress shall make no longer placing, respecting an establishment of religion or printing the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press for the right of people to peaceably assemble as a redress of their grievances. guest: that is exactly right, is when we talk about them wall of separation between church and state going back to the founding through conservative statements is they are not just to ensure they are not an establishment of religion that may prefer one religion over another and do something other than welcome the diversity of faiths we have in this country. religion. protect you wanted to have separation

not just to keep religion from infiltrating government, but also to keep the government from tainting the religious sphere. i think it is interesting eric talked about in many searches have helped to move our country theher on our progress like religious work toward racial equality, abolishing slavery, and fighting against jim crow laws in the civil rights movement, but nothing in the 501c3 tax-exempt and says they cannot argue for -- that is where we see the courts saying it is constitutional to have this bargain where if you want to have tax donations exempted to your organization, there is a lot organizations that are not religious as well that are engaged in public interest work for other reasons.

if you want to get those donations to be tax-deductible, you cannot engage in explicitly political speech. you cannot engage in the conversation in your personal capacity or refugees organized under a different provision of the tax code, but if you want this tax subsidy, that is the way the tax cut has been written -- code has been written. host: first, here is what the candidates have been saying. we will begin with donald trump on september 21 in ohio. [video clip] >> you do write every day by your community and family. you raise children in the light of god. i will always support your church and defend your right to worship always. [applause] mr. trump: i have here today to listen to your message -- ia

am here today to listen to your message and i hope my presence will help your voice reach new audiences. it will happen in our country, and these are people, believe me, many people out there that desperately need it. christian faith is not the past, but at present and the future. it is the foundation of progress, and i pledge to you ift if i win, let's say because we have to be realistic, but if we all go out and vote, we will win, but i pledge we will end then johnson amendment, which takes away the voices of your pastors, ministers, leaders. it will end quickly, quickly. host: the johnson amendment was passed in 1954 put together by senator lyndon johnson. the final three outs in las vegas, nevada, hillary clinton.

[video clip] >> i think when we talk about the supreme court, it raises the central issue in this election. mainly, what kind of country are going to be? what kind of opportunities will we provide for our citizens? what kind of rights will americans have? i feel strongly that the supreme court needs to stand on the side of the american people. not on the side of the powerful corporations and the wealthy. for me that means that we need a supreme court that will stand up on behalf of women's rights, the rights of the lgbt community, that will stand up and say no to a decision that has undermined the election system in our country because of the way it permits dark unaccountable money to come in to our electoral system.

disagreements with my opponent about these issues and others that will be before the supreme court. but i feel at this point in our country's history it is important that we not reverse marriage equality. that we not reverse roe v wade. that we stand up against citizens united. we stand up for the rights of people in the workplace. we stand up and say the supreme court should represent all of us. that's how i see the court and the kind of people that i would be looking to nominate to the court would be in the great tradition of standing up to the powerful, standing up on behalf of our rights as americans. the constitutional legal issues that were framed in the final debate by hillary clinton. comments from our viewers. why is it not ok for churches to endorse a political party but ok for professors and unions and

others? another comment saying churches pulpit, takehe away their tax-exempt status. the first amendment intended to keep government out of religion. a lot on the table. let me get your reaction to this, eric baxter from the becket fund. absurd to say churches need the irs to protect their interests. the establishment clause is there to create some space between government and religion. it is violated when it is used to decide what ministers can't and cannot say on religiously important issues. tax-exempt organizations are given that status because of the social work they do. weshould keep that complete separate from the idea of what

the political views are of these organizations. who would want the irs to have the power to censor sermons? when martin luther king was arrested during the nixon kennedy campaign and his wife pleaded with both candidates to support him next and refused and kennedy agreed. martin luther king's father publicly announced he was switching his vote next into kennedy and announced he had a congregation willing to follow his beliefs. should he have had his taxes and status trip -- stripped? of course not. they should not have this power to censor sermons of religious leaders. governor mike pence making appeals to evangelical churches. candidates should feel free to appeal to all groups of people in our country and they

should not be prohibited from engaging fully in the political process. i think eric might be conflating a couple issues. there is nothing wrong with churches speaking out on the issues and having people of all ideological sense speaking about particular issues. the problem is when it comes to specific electioneering. tax code says there will not be taxpayer subsidy for a particular political electioneering by churches or any 501(c)(3) organization. you can speak out about all of the other range of important issues in the national debate today. you can have people from all ideological perspective as long as you are not doing explicit electioneering. we saw an example of this when donald trump came to the church to talk about flint and the water crisis.

he was welcomed to speak about those issues. when he tried to turn it into a political speech attacking secretary clinton the pastor got up and said, that is not where you are here. it is great for the debate to have community organizations including churches engage in but because the ideas you don't want to have taxpayers subsidizing the of particularvity 501(c)(3) organizations. that's where you draw the line. there is no censorship of sermons. there is no irs agent sitting in the back pew. the guidelines are quite clear. you cannot engage in explicit election. line protects from having extreme government involvement. we have not seen that happen. elizabeth wydra is the

president of the constitutional accountability center and eric baxter is cipro -- senior counsel for the becket fund for religious liberty. let's get your phone calls. regina waiting in kansas city on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i am a bible believer. i don't have a particular religion and i do not wish for any pastor to be involved with the 501(c)(3). my opinion about my beliefs is god is my provider, not the government. that's the difference between believers and un believers. they believe the government can do everything for us. that's god's place. another thing is they have added the word political to sin.

changes the pastors message which is totally unconstitutional. it is the pastors right to speak against sin in the pulpit. if he wants to say this person is a sinner for saying these , that you can kill a baby, that is his constitutional right and the right to be left alone for free speech within and without the walls of the church. host: elizabeth wydra. obviously pastors do and can speak about some of the important issues you talked about particularly about abortion. frequently do speak

about and advocate about abortion issues. can also speak about other controversial issues like marriage equality. the distinction is just on the explicit electioneering if your organization is a 501(c)(3). there are other ways to get tax-exempt status. could be a 501(c) four. they are still tax-exempt but donations do not get to be did it from your personal income taxes. it's important to think about what happens if we were to have political donations be tax-deductible to 501(c)(3). generally tax deductions are something that benefit those who take itemized deductions who are the wealthier among us. would essentially be taxpayer subsidization for wealthier americans political's image. when we think about we want our tax code to encourage or not

that's not really something we need to encourage to have wealthy special interests have more in the influence on politics. host: to explain question 790 in oklahoma? constitution forbids public funds to be used for religious purposes. voters are going to decide if that should be repealed. guest: absolutely. we were talking about the johnson amendment which was proposed by senator johnson specifically to target his political opponents. it was sneaked into a bill. the blaine amendments are very similar. in the 1850's the supreme court acknowledged they arose out of anti-catholic bias. they are amendments in state constitutions that are used to bar religious organizations from

partnering with the government on equal terms of every other organizations. recent study found one point two trillion dollars out of the economy because of the services of religious organizations. hundreds of thousands of programs serving people with hiv, mental illness all out of congregations in the u.s.. to suggest these organizations should not be able to partner with the government on the same terms as every other social service provider is a violation of the establishment clause. guest: not only do you have the oklahoma supreme court's usingce suggesting that

state funds for such a purpose would violate the oklahoma constitution. we also have to think about the federal constitution. you read the majestic words of the first amendment earlier. can add toitutions the protections of the federal constitution. they can legislate in areas where the federal constitution does not speak to those areas. it prevents states from going lower than the minimum of rights protection set by the constitution. the concern would be that even if you change to the oklahoma constitution the change could violate the federal constitution. we have had the federal supreme court say that 10 commandments and monuments on public grounds are unconstitutional when it is for a specifically religious purpose.

host: here the words of the first amendment as we listen to catherine calling from springfield, massachusetts on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. the book of matthew explains everything. as peter came into the house he has to -- who do they pay taxes, strangers. hook, go downe a to the sea and pay for me and you. why shouldn't his church pay taxes? off.have ripped his head that's the reason for churches don't have no power.

we are in his kingdom and nobody can supersede his kingdom. i don't blame the government. i blame the greedy pastors. they don't feed the flock. host: thank you. i want to share a tweet from a viewer who says the irs does not have the power to control religious speech. tax-exempt means no politics in church. a lot of passion from the viewer. your thoughts. this idea that there is some bright line that is really easy for the irs to enforce is false. there is actually a committee at the irs called the political activities referral committee

that does have power to review sermons of pastors and determine if they have crossed the line or not. the idea that there is some clear line is just false. system whereed a those who have enough money to hire the right lawyers and lobbyists are able to speak out on the issues without fear of what's going to happen to them. arel community churches concerned they will be targeted by the irs. pastors are absolutely free to tell candidates that certain things are not acceptable in their congregation. we shouldn't have the irs being the arbitrator of those issues. host: this is from maverick who says the problem with that caller saying pastors calling out sinners -- it's not up to them. identifying sin is one thing.

damnation is another. -- if lbj passed the amendment in 1954 why not strictly enforced until after 1995? guest: i'm not sure that it wasn't enforced. in some ways it just wasn't controversial. there wasn't a lot of debate on the amendment at the time. i think as we have had a greater influence on political money in growncs that concern has in the wake of trying to ensure the way that we donate to campaigns is more transparent than other ways where you cannot disclose who your donors are. the irs governs its tax code.

one of the great things about this country is if you want to get the benefits of tax exemption it's really only fair that you would be subject to the tax code. if you don't want to be a tax-exempt organization don't have to be. if you want to organize under a different part you would need the same lawyers. there are options. that is why the courts have andld the johnson amendment the 501(c)(3) status. you can choose whether or not to get this very important subsidies that allows churches and other organizations to continue to do very good social works which is not engage explicitly in electioneering. host: we welcome our listeners on serious xm channel 124.

for this segment is religion and politics with elizabeth wydra from the constitutional accountability center and eric baxter who is senior counsel for the becket fund for religious liberty. go to thomas in texas. good morning. good morning. elizabeth, we should repeal citizens united. what does the clinton foundation do? thank you. i think that was a question for eric. i'm happy to talk about citizens united. caller: i would like to -- guest: i would like to attack this idea that tax exempt status

is subsidizing political speech. not a gift when the government doesn't tax us. once we have decided organizations that perform social benefits for society should be tax-exempt because of the benefit they bring to the american taxpayer and vulnerable populations it would violate the establishment clause to say we if only going to not tax you you agree to our political view of things. those should be kept completely rid. theirs should not be in business of having power to tell religious leaders what they should or should not be safe in their congregations on issues of moral concern. joyner saying churches can get out from under the thumb of the irs with no exemption do they necessarily need to be tax-exempt? guest: tax-exempt organizations provide enormous social services to our society.

we have chosen to encourage that by giving them tax-exempt status and allowing people who donate to these organizations to deduct their contributions from their income. once we have made that decision we shouldn't punish religious organizations that meet the criteria because we don't agree with their politics. out onurch once to speak the moral character of a political candidate i don't see how anyone could like the idea of the irs deciding whether that is direct or indirect participation in that politicians campaign. is a graduateter of brigham young university. elizabeth wydra earned her law degree from yale university. caller: good morning. when you go to church and listen to the pastor, he's not a dictator.

he tells a sermon. he tells what he has to say. people either believe him or don't. it's not a dictatorship. when we came up with the difference between church and state it was because we left england back to come to america. england had a thing that everybody was a member of the church of england whether you and you got in trouble if you went against what the church was saying. to america there was a difference between the government telling people what and that's the difference between church and state was. the government didn't force everybody to become baptists or muslims or atheist. government didn't force people to become what they were. host: would you agree or disagree? what is the difference between

someone's religion and someone's point of view or philosophy of life? believe clinton is going to try and tea tax all churches. somebody that believes in god and believes in the scriptures -- it's a personal belief. for somebody to force you to believe something even if you don't believe it is the difference between church and state was trying to set up. host: we will get a response. guest: i love that the caller brought in the history of coming to the united states to build this country that is founded on the idea of religious tolerance and diversity. the first amendment really reflects that balance. we have the free exercise clause

which ensures people of faith will be able to exercise their religious belief. we also have the establishment aause which prevents state-mandated view of religion. the constant balance we are always trying to strike in this country is to respect the founding wisdom of religious tolerance and diversity and ensure that believers and nonbelievers can worship or not in the way they please. that's what we have done with the tax code. the tax code represents a multitude of choices about activities and goods that we want to encourage and foster. interesthe mortgage deduction because we have made a policy decision that it's a good idea to have homeownership. churches and many other

organizations to create social work. tax and tax-deductible status for those aspects of those organizations because we have made the decision that having organizations like churches deliver those great social services instead of just the government is a public good we want to encourage. the difference is we don't want to subsidize political speech. are givingxpayers their money to a particular political viewpoint that may not be shared. have the free exercise clause and the establishment clause. if we said we are going to allow tax exemption and tax deductions subsidies or just religious political speech but not the political activity of other nonreligious article one c

threes. host: the religious freedom restoration act. this is from usa today earlier this year. government cannot substantially burden a person's ability to follow religious beliefs unless it can do so in the least restrictive way. it's a great statute. sikhs don't shave. they have served since world war i in our military. ofy have a strong history valiant military service. in the early 80's the military began strictly enforcing its hair rolls. they have been effectively banned from the military.

for this.o reason special forces have been allowed to serve with beards. there are roughly 100,000 whoiers at any given time wear beards for medical reasons. is there really a compelling reason the government should be banning people from serving because of their faith. it serves a critical role in our society in defending the religious faith of all people. the becket fund for and thes liberty constitutional accountability center both represented here as we talk about religion and politics. michelle in wisconsin. good morning. good morning. i am a strong believer of keeping church and state separate. it's pretty much in the constitution.

they talk about a moral thing with women's rights and abortion and all that. i don't believe in abortion but i'm not going to push that on to other people. people who need to have an abortion, i'm not in their shoes . i don't know their situation. that's between them and their doctor and who they hold to a higher power. a moral issue. isn't it also a moral issue that if you are going to make people have babies under those circumstances isn't it obligation to make sure those babies are taking care of with programs to help those people making sure that they have formula and diapers and food and everything else? it seems like the republican party wants to make sure that all of that is upheld as far as no abortions.

babies are born they don't want any of the programs to help out those families to make sure they can raise those babies. i have a real problem with people not keeping church and state separate and getting too involved. those kind of issues should be pretty much between a woman and their. there and their significant other. host: thank you for the call. elizabeth wydra. the supreme court agrees with you. that is a decision that rests with the woman herself making that decision. or with her family, with her doctor, with her pastor. however she goes about making that decision. the supreme court has said that is a decision that is left to her.

your other comment about creating a pro-life culture that extends through all phases of life is interesting. somethingly would be that there should be more vigorous discussion at the congregations we are talking about. host: this is the front page of today's union leader. a plea for unity. as the vote looms safely at her say it is time to bridge the political divide. prayer services are scheduled for today and tomorrow. rising above the rancor. facing the election together with faith. there's a mass for our nation taking place at st. joseph's cathedral in manchester. a full list of these services in the greater central new hampshire area over the next 48 hours. guest: i would like to go back to why should we punish

organizations because of their political views? you mentioned the mortgage interest and options. imagine if a government said, you have choices. you can choose to have this to duction and enjoy the benefits so you can promote homeownership but if you choose to tweet or blog or speak out on any political candidate you cannot take advantage of this deduction. that would be an obvious violation of people's free speech. their freedom of religion. what has happened here with the government saying we will allow you to fit into this category of tax-exempt organizations but if you speak out on a political campaign we are going to penalize you. there's no violation of the establishment clause when you treat everyone the same way. there's no reason any tax exempt organization should have to face punishment from the irs because of their political views. it upholds the establishment

clause when you treat all organizations the same. clause when you treat all organizations the same, and if i like it when you target some of them because of their religious beliefs. host: let's go to texas, republican line. i disagree with what the preacher says. there are plenty of other churches i can go to. i have other options. i am a member of a labor union. you don't have that much freedom to get out from under their political views. you would have to quit or give up your rights as a union member to vote for representation that you believe will help you. my main point gets back to the other point about the so-called tax subsidies. i would be more than willing to subsidize you $5,000. i was going to charge you $10,000, so just send me a check for 10,000 -- $5,000, and we will call that a tax subsidy.

host: your reaction. guest: the tax subsidy is really a misnomer. the government may choices not to taxed certain entities because we get a benefit. we allow that money to be used to provide social services to vulnerable populations that would otherwise have to be paid for i the government. we made a decision to subsidize activities that will help to solve problems at the community level where people can find the best help for their problems. we should not turn this into something that the irs monitors, and they actually monitor political speech this see if people are crossing this vague line of dissipating directly or indirectly in a political campaign. host: let's talk about the lyndon johnson amendment. you can read this as we listen to steve from robert's, missouri, democrat line. caller: thank you for taking my

call. my problem is the hypocrisy of the republican party. they stand on two of the commandments, which is the gay marriage and the abortion. there are certain cases where abortion should be legal. there are eight other commandments. if you hate someone in your heart, god is going to judge you for murder. if you lust after somebody, john -- god is going to judge you for adultery. that is my problem with the republican party. they are such hypocrites. jesus christ is the only way to go. god bless america. thank you very much. host: thank you for the call. let's go to jerry from west branch, michigan. third party line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. go ahead. caller: all right. i am just watching the tv, but i

need to the thing. the question i have with regards to -- i don't know if the right word is nonprofit and that. how is it that the charges can hold raffles, the salvation army can sell things, and they fall 501(c)(3), ist itself?inst the law host: thank you. we will get a response. guest: there is nothing that presents -- prevents an organization from bringing in money to a certain extent. tax-exempt would be under 501(c)(3), the internal revenue code. it is more about the purpose for which the organization is organized. you contrast a church with a

raffle that goes on to support social services or another nonprofit that takes in money to top enable it to continue provide important services to the community with a private for-profit corporation that is organized for the principle of making money for shareholders and owners. those are the purposes for which they are organized. "i don't want to hear about politics at church. i go to church to listen to the bible. i go to c-span for politics. we are glad you are is linked to c-span and watching. go ahead. caller: i have a question. if the tax-exempt status were removed from any religious organization, what barriers would remain without religious or havetion to lobby their hierarchy run for office?

number two, prior to the johnson amendment, what damage was ever done a religious organization? host: thank you. guest: that is a great point. for 50 years before the johnson amendment, we had tax-exempt organizations in the united states, and no one saw any problems with what they were doing. several examples, martin luther king leading the movement against racial inequality. religious leaders who fight for prison reform or to help children who are vulnerable in society. all of these things are things religious organizations have always done. introduced the amendment to get revenge against his political opponents. that is the kind of thing we don't need in our country and is clearly a violation against the constitution. host: "clear separation at least on paper." cooperation is some in providing services that can be deemed secular.

examples that aired just gave up roles in important fighting racial inequality and advocating for children, advocating for the poorest among us and vulnerable, that is something that is important and is not in any way prohibited. i want to be clear about that. continue under the johnson amendment that you advocate for these important, progressive values of tolerance, equality, and justice. churches and many other community organizations are crucial in continuing our country along this are of of progress that we saw in the constitution with the first moments of the birth of our country, which came together with this underclass of and democracy.

we have amended it to bring in people who were denied those promises of equality at the founding. values that are being expressed by many organizations, in winning religious organizations, -- including religious organizations, are important and not prohibited in any way. host: ralph is joining us from detroit, democrat line. good morning. caller: the only thing i disagree with is if a religious leader is going to teach the bible, then you want to teach the bible and the way religious taught it. during the time of jesus and the apostles, they had nothing to do with politics. he said, give to caesar what belongs to him. disagree that preachers get money from the government, and then these guys

that run from office will get money to put these politicians in office. that is misleading the people. the preacher's job is if he is demonstrating god's word, he crookedak against those politicians. the religious leaders job, to use pickup the community -- stick up for the community. host: thank you. guest: they are not getting money from the government to perform charitable services. this idea that there is a clear line is false. the law says that if you participate directly or indirectly, you could have the irs strip your tax-exempt status. the irs has not been aggressive in enforcing this because it is obviously a violation of the constitution. in any case, it should not have

that discretion. if it were to become more aggressive, it should not be in the position of deciding when a religious organization has crossed that line. if there is an important moral issue at stake, and one candidate has spoken strongly on outside, and church speaks on one side, clearly favoring one side, is that participating directly in a campaign? why would be irs be the one to make that decision? all nonprofit organizations should be free to choose those positions for themselves. people can vote for their feet and with their donations and they don't like that decision. host: michael from indiana. caller: good morning. i think the problem most people have is the cynicism that is coming out of this campaign with certain people campaigning on moral issues or religious issues that are really in the pocket of

the oil and gas industry, and to that nature. -- wings of that nature. tople are using religion make their way into the congregation, and then they are going to disseminate information that has the congregation siding with certain factions of our society. the pollution of land and the pillaging of the public. guest: i think that is the choice of the people. you are absolutely right. there are important issues that are being debated right now. that is a reason why everyone should get out there and bow, no matter who they cast their ballots for. people have literally given their lives for you to have that

right. this tweet, "if the tax deduction is removed for donating to religion, religious people will not donate?" still i think people will donate. why would we punish religions that do charitable work that benefits our society. it is easy to get cynical in our society with the negative news cycle. i encourage your viewers to think about the enormous good that organizations do in this country. if you look at just congregation-based programs that help the mentally ill, something like 79,000 congregation-based programs in this country to serve the needs of the mentally ill. that is more than three times the number of starbucks in the country. these organizations are providing crucial services that would otherwise be coming from

the taxpayer or government. allow them to to remain tax-exempt because of the enormous benefit they bring to society. host: marion from pennsylvania, you get the last word from our independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you very much. falsexter, that was a equivalency between the mortgage deduction and preaching a certain doctrine. not everyone has a mortgage deduction privilege. if people want to speak about who they want, that is fine and dandy. there are hundreds and hundreds of churches, and they -- i cannot think of the word i want. that was a false equivalency. i wanted to make that point. have a great day. host: thank you. guest: it really is not a false distinction.

the government has chosen to leave government -- charitable organizations tax exempt. that you can say only have this benefit it we agree with your political views. that is the same thing as telling homeowners we can do. only if we agree with your political views. if you speak out for one side or the other, we will take your reduction away. we should not be using government has. guest: the point is we don't want to control the political views of churches. we don't want the government to be involved in that. if you want to be a politically active church, you don't have to organize under 501(c)(3). it is the organization's choice whether or not to take it that it of that status -- advantage of that status. how we want to encourage certain behavior by providing tax exemptions for things like homeownership. host: the president of the

constitutional accountability center. to both of you, thank you for being with us on this sunday. we appreciate it. guest: thank you for having us. host: a quick look at the headlines on this sunday. the las vegas review journal, that incident that took place last night. donald trump rushed off the stage in reno. someone yelled "gun." below that, down the stretch they come. hillary clinton and donald trump. ohio, the tied in race is being called to close to call." hillary clinton at 48%, donald trump at 47%. ahead in hiss way reelection against democratic candidate ted strickland. "a furious finish."

katy perry and hillary clinton. hillary clinton and the president will be at independence hall tomorrow. , a west, the l.a. times divided country looks ahead at this long campaign. we will talk more politics. you are watching and listening to c-span's "washington journal" on this sunday morning, two days before election day. we are back in a moment. please stay with us. ♪ announcer: monday night on the communicators, craig aaron, president and ceo of free press, and the director at the center for internet communications and technology policy talk about the

technology issues that hillary clinton and donald trump have discussed on the campaign trail in the top technology issues for congress to address. they are interviewed by a technology reporter for the morning consul. >> the key elements that interest me the most are her expansion of broadband access and a lot of talk about competition and bringing the benefits of broadband to all americans. there is another strong theme running through around the idea of inclusive innovation, how do we make sure the entire country actually shares in the benefits of the internet economy. >> mr. trumps policies -- i think there are a lot of sharing of goals and objectives. we want to see the benefits of the internet made available to all. we want to see more rapid innovation. we want to see lower prices. i think what mr. trump is saying is the path to those objectives

is less regulation and lower taxation. >> watch the committee gators on c-span2 -- communicators on c-span2. election night on c-span, watch the results and be part of a national conversation about the outcome. the allocation with the hillary clinton and donald trump election night headquarters. watch speeches in key senate and house races. you can watch live on c-span and on-demand at c-span.org, or listen to our live coverage using the c-span radio app. "washington journal" continues. host: i want to welcome back reid wilson of the hill newspaper. interesting bit of trivia, you made a comment. guest: this is now the third election cycle in a row that i've done this exact spot in the election cycle.

host: the tradition continues. i would like to get your thoughts. a new york times story by your colleague, jonathan martin, the cbs news poll, and the question we were asking -- the state of american politics is what? guest: the state of american politics is in talks -- flux. we are facing a changing patient. economy, and for the better part of two decades we have been changing. that leads to political turmoil. we have gone through a decade of mistrust in all of our institutions from big banks to the housing market to wall street and the church. scandals in the military and in sports. institutions now that americans have faith in.

it is most evident in our politics and the vitriol we have seen between the two sides this year and within the two sides. it extends well beyond to the threat of every other aspect of our society. this comes once a century when all of society is being rewritten. that makes people anxious. that is why we have this underlying anxiety that we feel about politics and our place in what the next america will be for the last 10 years now. forget all the rest of the polling. the one question that has not changed or gotten worse over the last few years is, do you believe this country is in the right direction? about three quarters of americans believe we are heading in the wrong direction. that is reflected of a population that is not confident and where they stand. host: if you support hillary

clinton, the number to call is (202) 748-8000. if you support donald trump, (202) 748-8001. we have a line for those that support third parties, (202) 748-8002 if you are undecided, (202) 748-8003 we would love to hear why you are undecided. the president is going back to michigan tomorrow. what does that tell you? again, thislls me, tells me about the shifting political map we are seeing. thee take a look at where main actors in this political drama has been there last month, donald trump and mike pence, hillary clinton and tim kaine, michelle obama and barack obama, joe biden. we have seen them swinging between three or four states. north carolina, ohio, pennsylvania, lord. we have seen them going to other states.

donald trump spending more time in new mexico. clinton going to arizona. this moved to michigan reflects a broader factor, which we have seen in early voting, which is lower turnout among african-american voters. they are not as motivated as they have been when they set records in the past two elections. seene other hand, we have a huge boom in the number of hispanic voters showing up. martin wrote it as the lead in the new york times today. seen democrats struggling to turn out african-american voters. that is why president obama is traveling to detroit. that is why hillary clinton is in cleveland with lebron james. turning out those voters who can move states in the midwest area, ,ichigan, wisconsin, ohio

pennsylvania, one of the last rallies president obama will do with hillary will be the night before the election in philadelphia. host: the clinton campaign added another rally at midnight in raleigh, north carolina. guest: midnight, that is going to be fun. host: this is from the columbus dispatch. a new poll out today, 48% for hillary clinton, 47% are donald trump. senator rob portman has a significant lead in the senate race. this is the latest survey. ohio is a must win state for donald trump. it is a state that hillary clinton guest: would like to win. that is an important point. donald trump has a lot of muslim states. votesth to 270 electoral has to go through ohio, florida, north carolina, and probably some other big state -- pennsylvania, michigan, i am not a huge believer that the polls

in michigan will get tight. hillary clinton has a lot of states she would like to win. to 270 a lot more paths electoral votes than donald trump. if any of those states fall into the democratic column, because of what we call the blue wall, hillary clinton is almost certain to hit 270 electoral votes and probably a lot more. the funny thing about that although, it is the weirdest methodology in all of the polling industry. they actually mail ballots to people who pop up on their computers from. the people who return the ballots are the ones they count. the columbus dispatch is the only place that does that. the clinton within the margin of error in ohio. that is what we can expect there, one points or two points

in their way. host: over the last three or four days in new hampshire, senator joe sessions and chris christie were supposed to be there. that was quickly canceled on friday. mpnca trap -- ivanka tru campaigning for her father. chelsea clinton campaigning your we are talking about four electoral votes, and they are getting so many attention now. nevada, iowa, and new hampshire, only south carolina is probably in one column. new hampshire has been the focal point of not only the presidential race, but the battle for the u.s. senate, senator kelly ayotte and governor maggie hassan. they both have favorable ratings

above 50%. their job approval ratings is well above 50. that is not normal for this moment and politics. they expect somewhere around $115 million on television advertising in new hampshire. the advertising market is essentially boston, a few cable and the in manchester folks in burlington, vermont, .hey get a lot of lead over it is only one senate seat, but it is a huge focal point in politics today. host: this is the story from the new york times. the tossup in states like new hampshire could control it controls the u.s. senate. the race between the governor and senator. we have been covering the debates on that race. if you missed them, you can check them out on our website, c-span.org. guest: let me make the point,

the good reason to watch these debates on c-span, in one of those debates that we watched on c-span, kelly ayotte was asked whether or not she thought donald trump was a role model. she said yes. that made its way into a campaign ad. whoe are other republicans believe that one particular moment has really greater her campaign. -- cratered her campaign or given governor hassan the points she needs to win that race. mattered int really a down ballot race, it was that moment and it aired on c-span. host: we are c-span and we approve that message. good morning. caller: i love c-span. when it comes to donald trump, the guy uses a lot of hyperbole. the media tends to fact check is hyperbole all the time. there is a failure -- a will

fill failure to understand what he means when he says a lot of things. that extends to his claim that the election is rigged. i love the way the media has treated him, and there are so many ways an election can be rigged. for example, i saw the president tell a young lady who describes herself as a dreamer, someone who is in this country illegally, and she was describing others in this country illegally, and the president told her it is ok to vote. i have a problem with that. guest: i am not sure -- i don't know where that came from. i have not seen that. i have been fascinated to watch donald trump's supporters and their relationship with the media. it is one of the troubling legacies that is going to be with us past the selection.

i talk about the fact that our institutions are not trusted. we are not immune from that in the media. media, we are going through a tough time in terms of how we are perceived by the general public, and that is in part six of the rise of news organizations on the right-hand better cropping up in giving people whatever they want to hear as opposed to the actual reality, objective and nonbiased reality. on the other hand, donald trump will say things like, "the election is rigged, and people are voting illegally in these cities, and we will watch these particular communities." and then people think the media is not understanding the joke. i don't understand the joke in that. i don't see what is funny in that. the fact is there is a long history in this country of some

people preventing other people from voting. that is what this sounds like. if that is a joke, or that is meant to be somehow not real, i don't understand what the goal of making those comments. towards 80, -- katy tur, we spoke with her about the comments made by donald trump. you can go to our website, c-span radio, and now there is a tweet, "if kelly ayotte loses, it will be because she dumped trump." guest: let's back up a little bit. senator ayotte is one of a few republicans who publicly broke with donald trump and said they would write in another candidate after the tape came out in which

he was making comments on the bus. that is about a month ago now. it feels like a year. there are a few others. they came out and said they could no longer support donald trump. they would write in some other candidate. the internal polling on the republican side showed that they were dropping a few points after those comments. they were dropping because hard-core republicans, donald trump fans, were criticizing them. they were critical of their ability -- efforts to distance themselves from donald trump. term, a lot of those voters have come back. kelly ayotte has made back the points she lost among those supporters to abandon her initially. what we have seen in the last few days of the selection is that republican groups and were

-- republican incumbents have had to shore up their basis. democrats are reaching out more republicanse and to because they do not have this interparty schism that is playing out. host: we are talking to reid wilson, he is a national correspondent for the hill. he is a graduate of george washington university. 17 blocks from where we are. from texas, hillary clinton supporter. caller: good morning. my comment is i have seen the top democratic officials campaign with hillary clinton, and none of the republican officials campaigning with donald trump. it appears they do not want him to win because if they wanted him to win, they would campaign with him. campaignd make his stronger. guest: that is a good point.

the same leveln forurrogates on the trail donald trump as we have seen for hillary clinton. what is notable about hillary isnton's campaign, and this different from the last several times we have had a two-term incumbent president, when bill clinton left office, al gore did not want to campaign with him. when george bush left office, john mccain did not want to campaign with them because george bush is approval ratings were in the dumps. obama's approval ratings are in the mid-50's, pretty much the strongest they had been in years. in large part because voters are impairing him -- comparing him to the people who want to replace them. this is the first time and a lot of time that we have had an incumbent president who is in the political position to be

able to go campaign for his potential successor. michelle obama has been on the trail nonstop every two years, i feel like people write the michelle obama is the surprise weapon for the white house. why are we surprised? she is good at giving speeches. she has given a lot of big speeches. i felt it was notable that one of the early adventures on the trail for her was in phoenix, in arizona estate that has not gone democratic since 1986. the clinton campaign tried to start moving best state into the democratic column by using michelle obama, the hugely popular first lady. she has not been a lot of events, but they chose to dispatcher to phoenix. that told me that there ever to win arizona was real. host: the president tomorrow in

michigan, then on to new hampshire. michelle obama will be in philadelphia. a rally getting underway at 7:30 eastern time. full coverage for donald trump as well. he will wrap up in manchester, new hampshire, tomorrow evening. a lot happening. stay with us. buckle up, as they say. undecided, are you truly undecided? caller: i am. i appreciate you taking my call. i have been a voter for 20 years. this time i am truly undecided. i usually vote republican. i cannot really trust donald trump. i do not believe he is a republican with all of this liberal voting tendencies. i cannot get behind hillary clinton. libertarians 75%.

the other 25% i cannot get behind. i will vote. i don't know if i am going to leave the top of the ticket empty and just vote for my local elections. i am undecided about what i am going to do. there is a 10% chance i will vote for donald trump and 60% i will leave it blank. host: what congressional district arguing in northern virginia? caller: i am in the 8th. host: there is a big race in the 10th district. but you are probably too far over. thank you for the call. what would you say to this undecided voter? springfield, virginia, is pretty close to richmond. relatively speaking. one of the big newspapers over

gary johnson for president, breaking tradition in which they usually endorsed the republican candidate. donald trump's record with conservatives, which is not great. it is not consistent over a long time. something he said a decade ago does not square with what he is saying today or even a couple of years ago. of republicanst pause. that is why so many republicans opposed him in the primary. i think one of the fundamental miscalculations a lot of the other campaigns that ended up losing hat was that voters will learn that he is not a conservative, and therefore they will not vote for him. that is not how the republican and mary voters acted this year. -- primary voters acted this year. realize thisg -- i

is anecdotal. leading with anecdotal evidence. i keep hearing stories about republicans who are undecided, voting for clinton, voting for evan mcmillan. voting for gary johnson. i don't hear a lot of anecdotes about democrats writing in bernie sanders or something like that. i wonder, how many republicans are really going to get peeled off? i don't think ever mcmillan will win you talk. a few weeks ago, he was close if not in the lead. utah is his home state. it does not look like that is going to happen. you will probably be back in donald trump's call. every vote for him is not a vote for donald trump. host: an estimated 40 million

have cast early ballots. guest: early voting is a wonderful thing because we all get a hint of what is happening on the ground. i mentioned the lower turnout among african-american voters and higher among hispanic voters. that has been prevalent in florida where hispanic voter numbers are through the roof. we were all following a nevada political consultant on saturday night as he described this early voting site in henderson or las vegas, i cannot remember which. at hispanic grocery store, and apparently the line was 1000 people long one hour before they were going to close the polls. they had to keep it open. panic orthe moment of republicans when they realized these voters are coming out in nevada. on the other hand, early voting gives both sides, but democrats

in particular the need these votesthe notion that -- the notion that voters are not turning out in detroit where they need to. our guest is reid wilson. this story you had about democrats dominating in the final week on tv. anyone who lives in any battleground state is inundated with advertisements. the last weekend before, does it make a difference, or do people tune it out? i don't know how it would possibly make a difference. donald trump and hillary clinton will both run two-minute advertisements tomorrow. hillary clinton during the voice and some other sick, i have never heard of before. his two-minuteun advertisement as well. there are voters like brad might not be able to square themselves

with voting for donald trump or on the other hand it to on the democratic side. hand hillaryer clinton on the democratic side. if there is anybody not decided between these two, i do not know. the amount of tv spending has gotten so crazy that television in manchester, new hampshire, the middle of september was as easy -- expensive to buy as new york city. peryork city is $1000 point. manchester, you are talking about one 20th of that on a normal day. the demand has been so high for those key voters, prices have skyrocketed. [crosstalk] guest: wmur can retire next week. they're doing really well. host: let's go to a supporter of donald trump. caller: i have been following

all of these debates for some time. i am a retiree. traditionally i voted for democrats. i have been following what is going on in the media. donald trump is not an ideal person. nobody can say he is. but he is not a liar and a cheat and a thief like hillary clinton. backing of all of these institutions that paper money while she sells rights over seas, they have the clinton foundation all tied up. comey is stuck in the middle of all this even though donald trump is a blow torch to the face of american people, he says some stark truths. the media doesn't like it. the politics don't like it. he is on point with a lot of things. people may not like his

character in the way he presents isself, but the media bias against them because they don't want that change. we have 45 million people on food stamps. the unemployment rate is well over 4.9%. it is probably around 11% or 12%. they cannot get any coverage for health care. when you take these second and third jobs, you don't get any benefit towards a pension or retirement. host: i'm going to stop you there so our guest can have a chance to respond. thank you. guest: i have heard a lot of this. the support for donald trump is more about blowing up the system -- or creating a radical change that it is anything he says. when we talk about mistrust of our institutions, going back to that first thing i said, donald emaginention -- he

the unemployment rate at 4.9%, that is a statistic put out every month. he mentioned the rate higher than 4.9 is the broader measure of people who are underemployed or stopped looking for work. we are questioning the basic government statistics that are whotogether by technocrats are going to be here long after barack obama or hillary clinton leads. it is interesting to me that this recovery has been so uneven. it has benefited some so much, and others it has hurt or rather not helped. i think that disparity reflects a changing economy, and therefore that is what is scaring us into this mistrust of institutions and government and the state of politics we are in today. host: a couple of comments from our viewers.

send us your tweets. michael says, "new hampshire mediato take advantage of politicians who need to spend. the highest bidder gets the slot." over $20 trillion, 0% interest, why is the debt not getting paid down if wall street is doing great?" guest: that is something we have not heard a lot on the campaign trail. when i hear people say that the media is biased against donald trump, i wonder about issues like the federal debt. when donald trump laid out a plan that would have cut taxes for a lot of people across the board, and on the debate stage, he was asked about a nonpartisan , objective analysis of this plan that shows it would add, i cannot remember how much. it was a lot of money. offer any kind of

backup or response. i wonder how anybody who is objective is supposed to react to that. mediaa problem that the is not trusted as much as we reasons, for various we no longer have the stature to say with a second. this is an objective analysis that suggests your plan is going to add to the deficit. what do you say to that? no it is not is not a sufficient answer. according to real clear politics, within the margin of error. according to the average of polls, hillary clinton is up slightly, 1.4%. bernadette joining us from new

mexico. who are you supporting? caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i am a hillary supporter. i have been for a long time. what i want to comment on is i went to vote here at the county building where they have early voting. i encountered something that was not right. i was asked for my drivers license. i am over 65 years old and have been a resident for almost 60 years. i was asked for my drivers license. that is not supposed to be happening in new mexico. i need to bring that to the attention of the entire united states because, you know, this is how people get marginalized and how their votes are not counted. host: thank you. guest: that is interesting. this goes to the question of access to the polls. this is something that the two sides have bought over for quite

a while now. over for quite a while now. our question is the only western democracy in the world that does not have centralized election administration. think of a country -- this is good when we talk about the possibility of some foreign actor hacking our election. in a country like ukraine or book area, there is one central government agency counting the votes, and that one agency can be hacked by the russians. in the u.s., every local jurisdiction conducts their own elections. every county and city and small little town and municipality around the country. you have about 9000 different elections happening on tuesday. can then become differences between some states where voters are required to show one of a small number of

identifications and other states where every single voter gets a ballot in the mail. in washington state, oregon, colorado, every voter gets a ballot in the mail. there are no polling places on tuesday. in one sense, that decentralization is really good because it makes it almost impossible for anybody to mess with the actual results of the election. on the other hand, that can be really bad. people are voting under different rules. do we want to be a country where everybody votes to the same rules whether they are republican or democratic, or do we want to be a place where some people can both easily -- vote easily in one state or another? host: supporter of donald trump from columbia, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning.

i don't know where to begin. your guest is so clearly biased for here living -- hillary clinton here that he is not admitting basic facts. the media has been extremely biased when it comes to hillary. they have been giving her all of the positive coverage and trying claimus on every debunked from every supposedly queues are of donna -- accuser of donald trump. hillary clinton has been in the system for decades. her classified information has gotten a lot darker. the things on the laptop involve pedophilia. hillary clinton and her elite friends have gone to a pedophile island with the convicted sex offender. this story forcing out. guest: that is factually

inaccurate. the nypd has nothing to do with this. you are referring to the investigation into anthony weiner's computer. this has nothing to do with the n.o.i. pd -- nypd. this is the fbi. host: when you say pedophile island, what are you referring to? caller: it is on the caribbean, i think it is american territory. i cannot remember the man's name. it is a story breaking right now. the nypd and fbi are working on the story. the media is aware of it, and they are waiting to see what happens. that is all i have to say. have a nice day. guest: i love this notion that the media is involved in some giant conspiracy. i must've missed the meeting or invitation or something. there has been a lot of that in the sense of the broader media, there has been a lot of good journalism that has died deep

into the clinton foundation and their relationship with their donors. just a few days ago, i cannot remember, the clinton foundation admitted it improperly had taken a $1 million contribution from qatar. that is good reporting. it is reporting that has hit the clinton campaign. there is good reporting on the trump campaign. there are a lot of things about this election cycle that the broader media has done that in the harsh light of day with be done differently. they have helped both of these candidates accountable for their statements. for their actions. that is what our job should be. kudos to all those reporters. host: we had planned to cover rauner chris christie yesterday in new hampshire. reportedly the trump campaign asked him not to go to the manager. his two key aides were found

guilty on friday. he is in charge of the transition committee if donald trump wins. what is next for him? guest: that is a good question. chris christie was on donald trump's shortlist to be vice president of the united states or at least the nominee. chris christie cannot run for reelection. 2017.term limited in what comes next for him? he would presumably play a role in the donald trump administration if he wins on tuesday. on the other hand, it is hard to see where he goes politically from here. he is probably done in politics. host: reid wilson. we will book you two years from today. while we are at it, we will book you for the sunday of 2020. it is a good tradition.

what about the senate and the house could democrats recapture the senate? is the house in play? we will talk congressional politics. c-span3 american history tv all weekend. special presentations monday and tuesday as we look at archival presidential election night coverage. you can watch that tomorrow and tuesday. here's a portion. [video clip] >> easily read. all candidates are the same eye level. no candidate severs by being placed in a favorable position. them,never he addressed reminding them of the large number of voters were disenfranchised every year by making mistakes. often make checkmarks on the ballot in

states where x's are required. they might as well have stayed home. that is a no vote. it does not count. it is illegal. other voters find they had accidentally voted for the wrong man or changed their mind. it does not count. or -- pencils.election good try, sir. this ballot will be thrown out. or in the multiple-choice offices, she is entitled to choose five state representatives. marks six. this is a no vote.

simple mistake, yes. somef every 1000 people, nervous and some uninformed, how many do you think do it perfectly? the commissioner figured there was some excuse for being disenfranchised by tyranny or war or fear, and oh yes it can happen here, not for well-intentioned mistakes, not in this age of the voting machine, which cannot make a check mark instead of an x. which does let you change your mind, which has no pencil to break or paper to tear. which will not let you vote for more than you are allowed. and when you are satisfied with

your vote, a new privilege awaits you. register your own vote by turning this handle. walk away knowing that your ballot cannot be disqualified. no one miscounted. this already counted the moment you leave. as the commissioner likes to become -- "e really host: always fun to see how the winner and loser the players victory and defeat. those features are part of our american history coverage. you can watch that monday and tuesday on c-span3. 8:00 eastern time. 5:00 on the west coast. check out all of our programming any time at c-span.org. david drucker, senior correspondent for the washington examiner. good sunday morning. guest: good morning.

host: let's talk the big picture first. the house of representatives. what does it look like? guest: republicans will retain control of the house. ever since james comey announced they were taking another look at hillary clinton's e-mails or e-mails related to her use of the private server, any chance the house was in danger in my go democratic has receded. they could look at games at the house from seven or eight to around 15. there were a lot of republicans that won in 2014. presidential turnout in a regular year, they're likely to swing back. the republicans have a 31 seat advantage. republicans will retain control of the house. it just matters what the margin is. host: you spent many years in california.

we can safely say california will have a democratic senator next year. guest: explain --if there's anything -- host: why this is. guest: california has a top to primary system. that means regardless of party, the top two finishers advance to the general election. given that california is so liberal, so blue, what we saw in the primary for the senate race to replace barbara boxer were o wo democrats. anyway, they are the two that made it to the primary and made it to the general election. there is no republican on the ballot. the polls do not close in california until 11:00 p.m.

eastern. that is 8:00 pacific. there is a good chance that the presidential race will be decided by then. california is going to go to hillary clinton by a pretty wide margin. between having no senate candidate and the presidential race being a done deal, there is less oa motivator for republicans to turn off in mass, and even if they did, there is not much they could do. one of the race is getting a lot of attention has been darrell issa was finding himself with a tough reelection battle. guest: that story was about 10 days ago. hillary clinton was still basking in the glow of the post donald trump tape. her numbers were very high.

having said that, i still think if you are darrell issa in a district where he won his primary narrowly, about six points, and internal numbers show a close race, you cannot rest easy until this is over. maybe he wins, but clearly there is concern there. the demographics of shifted a little bit. we have seen a latino voting surge in nevada and elsewhere. is possibly a very close race for him compounded by the fact there is not a lot of top of the ticket notification. host: we know house speaker paul ryan is meeting and campaigning for freedom caucus members. there have been discussions trying to potentially replace speaker of the house paul ryan. congressman ryan said he would speak another term. where does this all stand?

>> we have to see what happened on tuesday. at -- at first he would not endorse him and then he did. billy bush's -- ryan said he was done talking, that he was not going to unenforced him. that rankled some of his members. you have got house republicans talking about speaker. the is part of dysfunctional house and republican congress, where they cannot seem to make up their mind about what they want to do. and what governing means to them. most house republicans are actually in the ryan winning, you have right of center ideas. you probably want to do as much as you can, make a bill as conservative as you can,

democrat and white house, democratic senate. that he had the caucus and other members. enough to hold things up. toy basically want the bill be perfect. they do not want incremental change or progress. they want it all. they are very honest in their approach. that is just how they see it. they think the country is sliding down a rat hole and incremental progress will not do good. i think republicans take the longer view, sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down, and live to fight another day. ofis just there is no sort central leadership. is probably as conservative a speaker as you will get. it is not good enough for a lot of house republicans who want a .actically different approach

what paul ryan will have to do once the election is over, he will have to decide whether or not he wants to try to lead house republicans, because he will always have to worry about a freedom caucus revolt that basically does not make it possible for him to negotiate or do anything on his members behalf, or do they say quietly, are, we will sound like we giving you trouble, but quietly, we give you permission to do as much as you can and we won't disrupt you too much? then you ask about -- two races that were under the radar a year ago, a state ,emocrats hope to pick up congressman todd young as the republican candidate, that race driven by a significantly early on but polls are tightening up.

republicans worried they reviewed as a favorite. states.est in missouri, i think trump will win handily. i could be wrong. missouri, especially with .residential turnout it is a red state that no longer a swing state. claire michalski reelected in 2012 but that had a lot to do with todd aiken and how acceptable he was across the board. blunt will have trouble, washington insider, that has been trouble for people. it has been trouble for some

politicians as we have seen. i think trump's margin is so good here. interesting. indiana republicans have long ont he was sort of riding goodwill toward him and his i do not think democrats probably thought they would have the kind of baggage they have. even going back to his time in congress, a lot of news has come out about he conducted politics sometimes in his official capacity in senate office and stuff like that. i think you have to give todd young a narrow edge especially in indiana.

even though it looks like the democratic candidate for will replace mike pence, the current governor. host: joining us in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, in support of hillary clinton, good morning. caller: thank you. i think hillary clinton would make an outstanding president with her skills and she is really compassionate toward people. one thing i am concerned about is what demographic has not turned out as much in early voting as they have in past elections. i think she really has a tremendous amount to offer to continue a barack obama did. that is one area of concern that i have. i hope the election increases actual voting. for the call. a trump supporter getting her point of view from new jersey and then your reaction. good morning. caller: good morning.

i watch your show from time to time. i am a trump supporter. forve been a conservative over 10 years. i think we need law and order in the city had live in, a democratic city. a democratic state. and the people supporting her, a lot of the people, it is almost as if they don't want law and order. you see the tv where i live, we need law and order. that is one of the main reasons i'm voting for trump. host: thanks for the call. guest: to take the hillary clinton supporter first, there has been concern the african-american turnout has been down in early voting and acid t voting. we're trying to figure out is it ,ust down because barack obama

african-american president, that he has been generating support without an american and that you cannot expect any democrat immediately to repeat ever again or right away. we're also trying to figure out if what appears to be an incredible search of hispanic or offset some of that in certain states. and it was down in north carolina, a democratic senate had to do with the fact the republican legislature passed regulations that reduce the number of polling places in african-american communities, once it is enough at the end of early voting, we saw an increase in african-american turnout. it did not hit the same level. it has been down in florida but increasing day by day. sort of depends on the level.

the clinton campaign sees the coalition has more, is also motivated by college-educated white women. there is a chance hillary clinton could be over performing group compared to democrats. she will potentially win college-educated white voters and if she does, she would be the first democrat to ever do that since she group started pu. there are certain parts of the pitch that are very motivated. lawn order was one of them. i'm not surprised that would be appealing. host: pennsylvania, undecided voter. caller: good morning. i watch you guys all the time. you and susan are a >> act and i appreciate it. i also enjoy watching the high school -- debate. it is sad with the money is in

-- g kids was i wanted to get at , i want berniee in there and he did not get it. i was going to write in bernie as president and michelle obama as the vice president just to shake these republicans up. i always vote democratic on the down ballot. but i was undecided until yesterday. democracy now with amy goodman interviewing michael moore. all these undecideds and the ones who do not want to vote, watch it, democracy now.org. i do not agree with hillary.

she is wall street instead of main street. but i'm going to vote for her and vote democrat the rest of the way. these name callers are not watching enough's these man. they're watching too much of the fox entertainment channel. thank you so much for what you do. for the call.u an undecided voter convinced by amy goodman. guest: however any bernie supporter is convinced for him -- vote for hillary clinton, the clinton campaign will take it. that is what she needs heading into election day especially in pennsylvania where there is no early voting. there is absentee, but it is an election day state. a key race for democrats and republicans, real clear politics. two points again, that is the average of all of the polls.

what is your sense about where the race is? i think you give hillary clinton and in pennsylvania. probably closer than you first. here is something i find curious about the presidential race in pennsylvania. generally over performed trump in many of the polls, not all of them. he has sometimes been ahead and behind. if trump were going to take pennsylvania, why wouldn't pat toomey endorsed trump and try to ride those coattails? the fact that he will not say who he is voting for, and he has done the dance better than most republicans who have done it, the fact that he has not been willing to jump on and ride trump buses coattails, that to me is interesting. a comment from one of our viewers say in the last caller from pennsylvania is awesome to

we think a lot of our colors are awesome. good morning. good morning, c-span. i love c-span. i'm very confused, perplexed, the most important situation is , is thee election troops in iraq are being trained to not kill civilians unlike russia that killed a lot of our allies, they were fighting aside assad and syria. my son and my best friend who is a woman, proud of the troops and because be an american they are not kill -- killing civilians. they are trying really hard. the iraqis in the middle east will be one of the toughest

fighting forces in the country. i love c-span. thank you. host: have the issues been addressed? i think most voters think important policy issues like how we handle islamic state and volatility in the middle east, have not been addressed sufficiently. this has been a presidential election fought on personal terms much more so than the past year the candidates are so unpopular, especially compared to past history, that they have both gone after he checked -- each other more so, than policy qualification. every complain about that four years. i think it is more warranted this time around, but it is not like we have not heard the complaint before. viewers asked the question

so many times, will things be different after the election, will we see more comedy -- guest: no. come on. i think the election has shown there is such a divide, there are multiple device. you can talk about the republican party and multiple divides between people who are enthusiastic from supporters and voters who are not. though there are a lot of voters on republic inside voting for trump, despite the fact that they do not like him, they do not like him. it has to do with how they think politics should be conducted, it has to do with policy disagreements. you have figures within the republican party that have to be sorted out. figures in the democratic party have to be sorted out as we saw in the primary. they have a president who is a unifying figure who is still there and able to keep things, barack obama is the glue that

has kept things together on the democratic side. more of au will see divide with the democratic party showing up. because you have two nominees --erwater popularity rise popularity wise across the board, it is just hard to see how this thing comes together after election day. republicans and democrats think the most vile things about the other candidate and maybe things will calm down and start watching football and be nice. but i would not bet on it. host: california. good morning. supporter of donald trump. caller: hi, how are you? i am very upset that two grown adults who will represent one of the greatest nations in history

are not very grown up. whichvery hard to decide person to support. a deciding factor is i took a look at the vice president and that helped me decide. also, the comment about republicans, you are a republican who lives in california, you will not bother to vote, it does not matter to me. and say that my voice counts. i guess i just do not like people to -- projecting into the future or saying discouraging things to voters because of where they live or what party they belong to. host: thank you. a 2016 voter.s i do not like either but i will

pick some -- one based on something that does not really have anything to do with who the candidates are. that is a great representation about how many americans feel about 2016. -- : a tweet one of the gop establishment, why does ron johnson endorsed trump in wisconsin? , the: yes, lookguest: makeup of the voters in wisconsin are a little but different than pennsylvania, but it is a fair question. i have not made a determination about why everybody endorses who they endorse and what the calculation is. johnson endorsed a little bit late, but he was recently campaigning with trump in wisconsin. clearly, he has made a different calculation there and has a chance to win with johnson according to the data we have, or many people including myself

-- have written them off. who knows what will happen in pennsylvania? it is curious to me, clearly ron johnson made a decision at the best move for him was to endorsed trump and campaign with him. he sees that as a benefit. thanks to the chicago cubs for giving chicago a break in this election nonsense. out, doident tweeting you want to come before i leave in january? from herndon, virginia, a supporter of hillary clinton. good morning. caller: i'm calling regarding the republican congress. over, we havek not had a bill that influenced how the country functions. it seems all they want to do is have a dysfunctional government.

with this election, it matters to me of hillary takes over, but i think we will have a deadlock and dysfunction of government, nothing will change. creation, they have not done anything about it. it is very disappointing. host: back to your earlier point. guest: yes. there are a lot of people who feel congress has been dysfunctional. i think republicans by a large get a lot more criticism for dysfunctional government in washington than it deserved. democrats feel the criticism is deserved. some rank-and-file republicans feel it is reserved -- deserved because they feel republicans .ave been to obstructionist just pass a budget, make it as conservative as you and under the circle at end move on. it takes two to tango.

obama and congressional republicans, senate democrats and house republicans, have had a hard time eating each other in the middle. they have done some work that has been important, but the disagreements and rancor has been so broad, it is hard for them to come together. both sides lame the other. the system was designed to make it hard to pass things thanks. it was not designed to make it easy. people forget that. but i think there is a lot of frustration that congress does not do the bare minimum of what it is supposed to do. involved in last-minute 11th hour, is the government going to shut down drama. host: relationship between the leaders. what you think it will be like between chuck schumer in new york -- i think it is the fact that a lot of members of congress do not feel comfortable cutting compromise deals.

they worry too much that they will lose their seat and face a tough primary challenge. that is true for house republicans, who have not empowered the leadership to go cut deals. go to lance from springfield, vermont. good morning. ask if hem going to had any idea why the two candidates from either party are not speaking more about the a lot of people are concerned with in this country, myself being an independent and not having an affiliation, would like to see one of these at least address the fact that we have public of structure, choices for children of employmentlot across the stratosphere of the midwest and the northeast, and a lot of the jobs we have had,

trump has given some attention to speaking on, had been closed down for years. i do not see how they will bring them back. giving any of these issues any attention. host: thank you. your comment has been consistent this morning. guest: both candidates have discussed the issues but i understand why callers feel they have not. we knew of -- from the beginning you have two candidates that are broadly unpopular, plus 60% of the general election electorate does not like trump. not farclinton is behind. this is never happened before. even four years ago one republicans were not thrilled mitt romney was your standard bearer, he was thought of as a decent guy who would do a good job.

his numbers were right side up it when you have that situation, it was inevitable they would go negative and personally negative because they see that as the best way to victory. when you are trump and clinton and your numbers are so bad, you do not feeling you will get ahead by saying look at my infrastructure plan. you get ahead by saying the or a prison is either nuts crook. that is how it has worked out. julie, you're calling in on the third party line. who are you going to vote for? caller: i will vote for hillary clinton but my question is, what blacks are 90% for hillary and 10% for trump, women is 40% for trump and 60% for hillary. students, 45% for trump and 55% for hillary. andanics are 15% for trump

85 for hillary. -- e men others are 45% for trump and 55% for hillary. 70 four hillary and 215 for trump. how can it be so close? my recommendation is believe the data. i think it is telling you the truth by and large. the data can be off for trump or to benefit hillary. it is the composition of the electorate that matters. depends on the state. how many as, how many african-americans, and things like that. you go to a state with few hispanic voters, even if hillary is clobbering trump by 80 or 70 points, if there are not enough, it will not overcome trump's lead with white voters, for

instance. like nevada where the hispanic vote is influential , the fact that there was a surge for hispanic voters for hillary clinton for the democrats does impact. it depends on each state and the composition of the electorate. the data by and large has proven pretty endurable and dependable. it is usually getting the trend correct. host: when the returns come in tuesday night, what states will you be watching early on? we know rob portman will win ohio. see if the lead in florida israel in the polls, and we will check to see if ron johnson is over performing, we will look at pennsylvania and we will also, and check missouri and nevada. host: in terms of out west in

nevada, this it -- this race has been back-and-forth, still ahead, but both sides have a chance to pick up the seat. if early voting is correct, it means he will have to over perform donald trump. , ar years ago, dean heller narrow victory in nevada and that it has typically, we have seen this in the past, we have seen nevada senate candidates the same party to win. i think he still has a chance. i think of the early voting numbers are correct telling us how the race will go, it is a steeper climb, but you cannot roll them out. thank you as always for being with us. we appreciate your insights. alec a one-week hiatus, baldwin and kate mckinnon and

the opening skit on saturday night live. here is how it began. >> joining me from florida, secretary hillary clinton and colorado, donald trump. [applause] how are you both doing? > really, really great. they are also buying it. >> it has been a great week for me. my favorite part was when i lost that big lead i had here and i am not worried. it might be the bottom of the ninth but this old chicago cub is still going to bring it home. [applause] >> you are not, hillary. because i am building a lot of momentum. are showing we are and

whatever this is here. >> you traveled to four different states just today. gives you the energy for that? >> my deep love for america and a handful of others. [laughter] to what wast obviously the big story of the week. secretary clinton's e-mails. comey announced they're looking into more e-mails discovered a anthony weiner's laptop. >> i cause it and the e-mails are very bad for you, hillary. that is why i never ever use e-mail. it is too risky. instead, i use a private and very secure site where one can write whatever they want to and no one will read it. it is called twitter. [laughter] the programs how

opened and that is the -- this is the final 30 seconds of the skit where they came out of character and told this to the audience. ♪ [applause] >> now it is time to get out there and vote. none of this matters if you do not vote. >> we cannot tell you who to vote for but on tuesday come we get a chance to choose what kind of country we will live in. live from new york, it is saturday night. host: there you have it. we are back with the washington journal. we will talk about the top stories of 2016. "newsmakers" is next. full campaign coverage today, tomorrow is tuesday. hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. have a great week ahead.