q&a, allman jenkins talks about his work and politics during the truck era. >> i think he wants to be the attention. i don't think he is a racist. he sees everyone as either a friend or enemy. you can change categories very easy. because no grudges. the america first thing is an idea that i think he holds dear. that our country has been shortchanged and is doing with the rest of the world and not reflecting trade policy and integration house a. hurt peoplehat have in middle america. tonight, at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. ally view of the u.s. capitol

from the mall here in washington dc as the partial government shutdown continues. day two, affecting an estimated 800,000 federal workers. this is new york magazine, think you for being with us. this is about john kelly. this is the impossible job. kelly. "johnite the following -- kelly --

host: explain. after the first chief of staff was fired, who were close a lot of people advisers to the president, like a ivanka trump, jared kushner, felt like they needed someone would bedvise, and he able to instill a sense of order, get rid of the chaos, stop the leak in, giving way to the sense of chaos and paranoia. look backhink you can a couple months from now and say he has been successful.

there are too many people for their to be powerful entries about. think a couple of the chaotic news cycles, a couple of the stories circle around him, and you have to wonder about mick mulvaney. why would anyone take this job? host: he appeared on nbc this morning, telling jonathan karl chief of staff daley white house staff, he is not going to change the president. guest: right. there is an old saying from the campaign folks "let trump be tru mp," that is the way to manage keep him is the way to happy. people who abide by vacuu that survived longer. at the same time, i do not think it will protect mick mulvaney.

when there is a negative news cycle, the president can get things done, which is usually the case. outside to view people a havingst wing inherentlys more value to him, he makes more phone calls to the outside kitchen cabinet and seeks their advice, because when you are around him, you can be blamed. host: let us put this in perspective, a piece you wrote back in october is titled "my private oval office press conference with donald trump, mike pence, john kelly, and mike pompeo." explain what happened. guest: [laughs] i was interviewing john kelly -- host: when he was going to stay in chief of staff. guest: why hasn't he been fired yet? there were stories constantly about how the president and him heads, theng

president offered the job to gary cohen, to steve mnuchin, the treasury secretary, to the chief of staff of mike pence. so why hasn't he been replaced yet? how has he managed to hang on? that was the question i was trying to answer. i was in the white house during the interviews, and i was on my way out, i got called back and by sarah huckabee sanders, the and she had ay, veritable clown all of officials from the administration coming to talk to me, to try to talk me at of the story, that it is andly oiled machine, everything is going well, they would not be replacing john kelly, he was not looking for a

replacement, he confirmed what the white house had previously said that he was staying on until 2020. you know that is not the case. and they made other statements which is not true, based on what i know. host: our guest is olivia nuzzi, washington correspondent for "new york magazine." you will be working on the 2020 campaign? guest: yes, myself and my co-author will be on the trail. host: the government shutdown, the president said he will take the mantle for the shutdown. he is now blaming the democrats. how is this resolved? guest: i thinkguest: that is what everyone would like to know. it does not look very positive for the president. it looks like an exercise under which a lot of people will be affected, government workers over the holidays not being paid, working without pay, tsa agents, other necessary personnel.

everyone being sort of where they were before this started. this is bush third shutdown since he has taken office. he has not going -- this is the third shutdown since yet taken office. $5is not going to get billion for the border wall. nancy pelosi said democrats will not help him get whatever he wants. now he says it is a democrats shutdown. look what they did. host: you think this could go until january 3? guest: i don't know. i think it is possible. i try not to make productions about trump washington. i have not fared very well in the past doing that. [laughs] host: let's get to the phone lines. caller: hi. thank you for taking my call.

fast it is a strong, decision. the border wall is a harmful idea. . on thelook up "idiot" computer, a picture of donald trump comes up. it is because of his actions and policies. i saw that on twitter a lot of people asked about this issue. please answer it if it is possible. host: the question if the border wall is necessary. mitch mcconnell said democrats supported a type of border wall back in 2006, and senator chuck schumer said that is not the case. guest: half of this finding that the president is requesting thed be going to repairing border wall that is already there. would go toit constructing new portions of the wall. i think that the reason why democrats cannot support this,

even if they didn't support some sort of barrier in the past, is because it has just become associated with this sort of hateful worldview that the president has been perpetuating since he started running for office. it is an impossible position for any democrat right now to support funding border wall. host: this is the headline from your colleague, jonathan chait made theox news white house shutdown the government." guest: the right-wing talkshow host, radio host, have been encouraging this for four democrats take over and control the house. i think what is different now rather than the past is that they came together to criticize the president.

previously, some alike and culture, who wrote -- previously, someone like and coulter, who wrote above, criticize, he sat with her on her own. rushs different because limbaugh, jon hamm -- sean hannity. host: we should point out that was a part of the initial negotiation, a deal on daca. let's go back to your phone calls. jeffrey is joining us from michigan. good morning. you are on the air. caller: i was wondering if this lady is saying that donald trump has gotten nothing done. reform, record low unemployment for a lot of

people, a lot of people getting more money in their pockets, and i think this country is safer now. i mean, i'm not know where this lady is coming from. thank you very much host: thank you. know quite how to respond to this, but i would say the caller is correct, he did get tax reform through. other legislative items he has tried to get through, like trumpcare, has stalled. he has a cloud by the mueller investigation, the other investigations in new york, a news story that is just devastating about the mueller michael:tion, the c.h.i.p.tion, and

reform should have been what the focus should have been on, the border wall, not the government shutdown, and i think it has been a negative for the president. when you were in the oval office, and you have president, the vice president, the secretary of state, the white house chief of staff coming in and out, what was going through your head? because you had not planned on that, correct? guest: no. the oval i walked into office originally, they were not and then the president came in, and then everybody else came in. point, i joked "should i be expecting my mother to come in next?" it felt a bit like an intervention of sorts. i wanted to get him talking. i wanted to get him on the record on as many different subjects as i possibly could, so

i tried to be strategic about when i interjected with , i mades and follow-ups sure to speak with a very consciousness sort of way, and i wanted him to talk to me. they try to stop the interview from continuing. host: let's get back to phone calls. john is next from columbus, indiana. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you guys doing this morning? host: we are great. merry christmas. caller: i have a couple of comments. my family used to be lifeline democrats, but people like chuck schumer and nancy pelosi have just destroyed the party, and it even aims like this young lady here, she is damning the president, and it seems like the first person who has ever even tried to help the people. if the democrats would get back somebody decent

instead, they want to fight, they want to downgrade you really, ma'am, need to think about what you say. y'all have a good evening. should point out senator bob corker says he has some doubts as to whether or not the president will run for reelection in 2020. we should point out he is stepping down in 2020. . spot to the caller's comments? guest: i suppose whether or not robert mueller files this report, that could change things, but you cannot imagine assessing this race in front of him and looking at on theld, which is vast other side and does not seem to have a clear front runner or who the obvious nomination should be.

i cannot imagine looking at that and saying "i am not even in the race," but i just want to say it is not partisan to note that the president has had tremendous difficulty getting things done. it is not partisan to criticize the president for the way he speaks. that is a problem with that since the election, since before the election, where people think any sort of criticism of the president is partisan somehow. it is not. host: you can assume the outgoing and incoming chief of staff will have a conversation, in terms of john kelly giving mick mulvaney some advice. based on your reporting in your interviews, what do you think he is telling him? guest: i think about that a lot. i thought about it the other day when he was photographed shaking his hand in the driveway of the white house, these two men, and i wondered -- what could they be talking about? i imagine he would caution him about leaks. one of the ways john kelly tried

to change the west wing was to try to lessen the number of leaks, something that i think contributed to this environment of paranoia. assuming that everything you say will be distributed to the press, maybe before the interview is even over. that does not really create a happy, healthy work environment. john kelly was not ultimately successful in stopping those leaks, even though many people were fired who were suspected of leaking. i assumed that he would caution him about that, perhaps caution him about how best to speak to the president early on. reporting, kelly did not understand the way that the president speaks. he suggests a of things and he complains about a lot of things, but that does not mean he wants to do anything. kushner,ump and jared

maybe they should just go home to new york. is not necessarily mean that he wants to send them home to new york. understanding that. takes some time. . host: let me share a tweet with the president, brett mcgurk announced he would step down early. the president writing "brad miller, who i did not know, was inointed by president obama 2015," calling him a grandstand such a big deal about this nothing event. why wouldn't he have known him? guest: right, that was the question, and this happens a lot with the president on twitter, that he is making it look like he has nothing to do with a

decision, and in doing so, he raises more questions about his level of awareness in his administration. i do not know why he would send or why helike that would admit to not knowing something like that, but i think the way he thinks about how we all perceive him is very different than the way people in washington and journalists tend to think. host: "the only way to stop drugs, gangs, human trafficking from coming into the united states is a barrier. fun, but it is only a good old-fashioned wall that works." good morning. caller: good morning. want to say it seems like that lady does not like donald trump. i lived by the order, and i can ,ee all the things going wrong

people coming into the united illegal, and by the time they come over here, they go to get all of the benefits. here dopeople who live not get them. there is something wrong with this picture. i am sorry, but i do not, this lady, she seems to not like donald trump. apparently she is a democrat. i used to be a democrat, too. i left them, because they are not doing anything for the people. host: we will get a response. thank you for the call. guest: as i said before, i do not think it is partisan to criticize the president, and i do not think it is a serious argument that anyone who disagrees with the president or has any negative assessments of the way he behaves or speaks is a democrat. says andt true that he

does a lot of unprofessional, unusual, sometimes objectionable things, and that is not a liberal view. it is just a reality-based view. host: to a radio audience, our guest is olivia nuzzi, the washington correspondent for "new york magazine." you can check out her work online. randy is next from alabama. good morning. caller: hi. ask thejust like to lady in question. host: you are on the air. go ahead. caller: everything is wrong in washington has to do with the news reporters. they can't tell the truth. why should people listen to this lady sitting up here talking? thank you. that is all i have to say. guest: have a good day. "this lady" is like my new legal name after this show. [laughs] guest: my writing is about the

people in the white house. i tried to write insightful he about the people who work in the administration, the president. and it is not motivated by an ideology. it is motivated by a worldview, but it is very clear i am not a partisan person. host: in one of the pieces that you wrote, "donald trump hates christmas parties." guest: [laughs] you are not helping me out here with your viewers. he said to several white house officials over the last weeks who told me about the president complaining about having to stand in these long lines, shake hands, and take photos with supporters. in his defense, he does to christmas parties on two days each week with 600 guests. juoked that this is the most

relatable thing i have heard about donald trump, that he does not like to suffer through christmas parties and make small talk with people he barely knows. they cut down on the photo lines , those for secret service and law enforcement, to try to a him, and iease heard he was much happier last year. --t: the first secretary in the first defense secretary in the history of our country to resign in protest. what does this mean? guest: the security team has to do with the president's stated worldview. he talked about how critical he was on interventions on foreign affairs. he criticized barack obama, he criticized even george w. bush,

and he talked about isolationist foreign policy. then people under him, jim bolto, or john there is a split between what the president says and seems to believe and the people who surround him, more establishment, washington background. at this point, who knows who mattis, and he will be looking for someone like john bolton, certainly, based on what differences you had with the president as well. he is a more interventionist. more he will be looking for someone like rand paul or if he is just looking for someone to say yes to him, even if they do not believe him. you think this

town is going to look like in january, with the democrats in control of the house? speaker of the house nancy pelosi under a lot of pressure to begin impeachment proceedings. she is trying to resist that. we have the molar report coming out, reportedly, in mid-february. point these, including -- withrior and the cabinet appointees, including the interior and defense department. guest: i think going forward is contentious, he will be fighting a lot with congress, fighting a lot with nancy pelosi, and fighting off a lot of inquiries. they will try to get his tax returns. they will be looking at the numbers of administration cabinet officials. i think it will be a very contentious environment here. host: finally, with your

reporting, when you were talking to folks in the white house, do you find them to be open? how are you able to get your sources? a source in this white house is a bit like adopting a terminally ill dog. the second you get it to trust you, it dies. everybody has been fired or resigned so far . it is difficult. to build acult relationship, establish trust, wonder if anyone who tells you the truth, and you find someone, you wonder if they are going to stick around. certain people, it is not always telling the truth or at least not actively lying to you, but it is difficult, and you have to really be careful with whose words you have taken, who you check it with, and my old rule about having two different

sources and confirming does not really fly here. you need more like a dozen sources. "an irony of the kelly era is that even though those around the president who had been desperate for help supervising him, like jared kushner trump, whenever able to get over difficulties with kelly. it just moved further and further out of view." guest: early on, there were concerns about reince priebus, sean spicer, advisors for the president, things like that, fighting with each other. conventional republicans, even some democrats who worked there, and more breitbart type of worldview that people like steve bannon have. it is less clear how the divide still a lothere is

of testimony there. bunkerink there is a mentality that has taken hold, especially over the last 8, 10 months. that makes it less likely that speak againstll each other and want their drama spelling out in the press. >> soon to be at with a book after the campaign. when do you think it will be out? >> >> this week, join washington

journal for authors week, featuring one live segment with a new author, beginning at a: 30 in eastern, monday, the author, or in cap. -- orren. it'sdnesday, allender show derschowitz talks about his book. the book " sex matters." chris.ay, the author, eek",us for "author's w each morning on washington

journal. >> president trump i melania trump take part in the national christmas tree lighting. ornaments fromre in theate, territory country. calvin coolidge lit the first tree back in 1943. president trump: merry christmas everyone. merry christmas. it is great to be with you. let's like the tree. the first lady will do the -- let's light the tree. we will do it in reverse. 10, 9, 8,