about the government shutdown and what you think was the top story of 2018. we take your calls, and you can join the conversationany can jon facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning. it is monday, december 31, 2018. day 10 of the federal government shutdown. congress plans to meet today in pro forma sessions in the house and senate. with the president and congressional democrats refusing to budge on the issue of new funding for a border wall with mexico, the path to ending the shutdown remains unclear. we begin our program hearing from you. do you support the federal government shutdown? if you do, 202-748-8000 is the number. if you oppose the shutdown, 202-748-8001.

we have the special line for federal employees we have been keeping open throughout the shutdown, 202-748-8002 is that number. you can catch up with us on social media. on twitter it is @cspanwj. on facebook it is facebook.com/cspan. a very good monday morning. coming up in about a half-hour on this new new year's, we will be talking about your top political story of the year. we will be hearing from you for most of the program. for this first half hour, we will begin where we have for the passed 10 days, on the topic of the arrow government shutdown. here's a headline of the wall street journal, little progress as washington stays shut. the picture shows lindsey graham outside the white house after his lunch meeting with president trump. here is a bit of what lindsey graham said after he left that meeting. [video clip] >> democrats voted for 700 miles of the secure fence act that has double layered fencing.

call that whatever you like. a gang of eight they'll, we had $42 million for border security including $9 million for physical barrier. of the wall has become the metaphor for border security and what we are talking about is a physical barrier where it makes sense. in the past, every democrat voted for these physical barriers. it cannot just be about because trump wants it, we cannot agree with it. there will never be a deal at the end of this year and the beginning of the next that doesn't have money for the physical barriers we all have in the past agreed we need. the president is not asking for too much. we are going to put on the table some ideas that have been embraced in the past. the question is can we hate hating each other -- stop hating each other enough each -- up

here to find a way forward that is win-win. the president is upbeat and in a good move and he is receptive to achieving -- to a deal. i think we can get there if everybody will start talking to each other. host: that was lindsey graham outside the white house yesterday. here's the front page of the new york times describing the scene inside the white house. on, the phone is is never far away, and president trump is repeatedly calling allies such as members of congress and conservative radio hosts telling them he will not give in on his demand for funding for a border wall with the president who campaigned on his ability to cut deals has not done. he has not reached out to democratic congressional leaders. virtually around -- alone in the west wing, esther trump has taken to twitter to highlight he

canceled his vacation to his private club while lawmakers left the city and lamented the negativity of the news coverage, which included repeated airings of his declaration in the oval office that he would not blame democrats for a shutdown. here is the president with his own thinking on twitter yesterday, calling it the schumer shutdown, referring to chuck schumer, the democratic leader in senate. great work by my administration over the holidays to save coast guard pay during the schumer shutdown no thanks to the democrats who left town and are not concerned about the safety insecurity of americans. later the president tweeting again president and missus obama built a 10 foot wall around the d.c. mansion -- the u.s. needs the same thing, a slightly larger version. that was two tweets yesterday. we want to hear from you on day 10 of the government shutdown.

if you support the shutdown, it is 202-748-8000. if you oppose it, 202-748-8001. if you are a federal employee, we want to hear from you during the shutdown, 202-748-8002. we start from robert calling from massachusetts, opposes the shutdown. go ahead. caller: hi, john, can you hear me? host: yes, go ahead. caller: let me say i am a democrat and i want you to know that this is just, i cannot say enough negative things about mr. trump. it's not about that, it's about the fact we need a government that is open. we need a commander in chief. i am not going to spell the word, who actually respects the fact he is at the bully pulpit and in charge of the three

branches of government. it is all a game. it's all a reality show. that being said, the wall -- i whatt going to repeat congressional democrats, for example -- exec of have said about the -- et cetera have said about the border wall. security, i don't have a problem with that. he makes himself, mocking serious issues such as immigration. if you recall about two months ago, hillary clinton said europe's problems -- people on the left, if you will, also say immigration needs to be dealt with. that's a little off topic, the shutdown must end and i hope we can come to some negotiation with the congressional house democrats. they have no incentive and trump

doesn't take it seriously and that is my call and you folks at c-span have a wonderful 2019. host: that is robert in massachusetts. this is lee in north carolina. a coat -- opposes the shutdown. caller: i oppose the shutdown because mr. trump said he would have mexico build the wall. every time i turned around, he was saying that, let's not forget that. a grown man, the president of the united states cannot keep his word. he is building people up. respect lindsey graham, but he is coming from the back door. no shutdown. thank you. have a great day. host: maria supports the shutdown, ohio. good morning. caller: i do support, all the

way, 100%. thank you. host: cynthia also supports the shutdown in ohio. why do you support the shutdown? caller: i think the democrats are being crybabies and i am tired of listening to them. trump, i am all for trump putting that wall up to protect our united states of america and keeping them idiots out with drugs and people that come in here and shoot up our people and get turned loose, put back in mexico and turned loose and come 5, 10, 15, 20here times and cause chaos in our america host:. that is cynthia in ohio. more of your phone calls. if you support the shutdown, 202-748-8000 is the number. if you oppose the shutdown, 202-748-8001.

federal workers, it is 202-748-8002. we mentioned senator lindsey graham had lunch with the president yesterday, making comments outside the white house and making news indicating president trump is at least thinking about slowing down the troop pullout from syria. here's the headline from the wall street journal and more from senator lindsey yesterday afternoon. [video clip] and healked about syria told me some things i did not know that made me feel a lot better about where we are headed. he promised to destroy isis. he will keep that from us. we are not there yet. linee inside the 10 yard and the president understands the need to finish the job. he is worried about iranian influence and the potential dangers to israel from having a superhighway from beirut to tehran in terms of delivering weapons into lebanon and he will

be talking to turkey about making sure we don't have a war between the turks and the kurds. i like what i heard. we still have some differences, but the president is thinking long and hard about syria, how to withdraw our forces and at the same time achieve our national security interests, to make sure isis is destroyed, they never come back and the kurds are protected and that iran doesn't become the big winner by leading. i told the president's trip to iraq was much appreciated. i think he learned a lot and i learned a lot from him today. host: that was lindsey graham at the white house yesterday. we are taking your calls on this day 10 of the government shutdown, a look back at recent government shutdowns. this is the third government shutdown of 2018 as we end the new year in shutdown.

the other two, very short, just 9 hours. it was three days long. this 10 day long shutdown far from the longest, it is in the top 10 longest. inthe longest -- the longest 1995, a 21 day shutdown. 16 long shutdown. the fight over the affordable care act. we want to hear from you about this shutdown. do you support it? do you oppose it? the is in ohio, supports shutdown. go ahead. caller: yes. i enjoy want to say listening to you, you always give the viewer a chance to respond and i appreciate that and appreciate seeing you do what you do. you all do a great job. host: thank you, sir.

go ahead. caller: as far as the shutdown, i kind of supported it in the beginning. right now, i oppose it because our president just does not -- he is not stable enough to support anything or be against anything. he can say something one day and agreed to it and the next day, he says the opposite. a little bit of clarity on his part would go a long way. host: where did your support come from at the beginning? caller: i feel we do need secure borders, whether we need a wall, i am not sure of that, but there is enough technology. you do need wall repairs, no doubt about that. that is not the all in all wall and that is what he based his on. you keep hearing the same rhetoric. he said mexico is going to pay

for it and anybody that believes are offi think they basis anyway. host: do you think there is a deal to be had? this is the lead story in the washington times in d.c. talking about the dreamers, the children in the deferred action for childhood arrivals program. for wall funding. do you think there is a deal for wall funding and border security? caller: 202-748-8002 i always think -- caller: i always think there is a deal if you can sit down at the table and talk. right now, republicans have the house and the senate and the presidency. they are the ones that set up the agendas and set what needs to be debated. they went out of town and shut everything down and trump wants to blame the democrats for not talking to them. how many times did he bring the democrats over during this lead

up to the shutdown to talk to them besides that one time and then he wanted to do an open camera thing, be right on tv to get the drama in. i don't think the president has really reached out, in my opinion, to the democrats. that is how i feel about that and we can talk about this all day. host: you talk about reaching out, there has been no contact according to politico between nancy pelosi and president trump sinceout 20 days, december 11. nancy pelosi expected to take the speaker's gavel noon on thursday when the 116th congress will gavel in and when nancy pelosi is expected to start leading that chamber. we will have live coverage of that and be with you all morning long before that event in the final hours of the 115th congress, which ends when the

116th congress gavels in. charlene in washington opposes the shutdown. good morning. caller: good morning. i oppose the shutdown because that should not be used to get your own way. the president is playing games with the american people. if he put as much strength and rhetoric into opposing what russia is doing to us as he is with what the democrats are doing, we would be a lot better off. russia is doing whatever they want and yet he stands up in the oval office and condemns the democrats. this is our free society he is trying to tear apart. you one collar -- the last caller from ohio, i agree with everything he said, it is absolutely the truth. this man is playing games, listening to and culture, sean

hannity, and rush limbaugh and they are the ones telling him what to do. i guess that is all i have to say. host: nine federal agencies and other smaller departments have been impacted by this partial government shutdown. there have been spending bills passed, including funding for the military for veterans issues . nine federal agencies impacted by the shutdown, some 380 thousand federal workers have been furloughed since the start. 420,000 other federal workers remain on the job through the shutdown and do not know when they will get paid. ken is a federal worker in indiana. have you been furloughed? tso officeri am a and i work at the airport and we are not allowed to stay home. we have to go to work every day. host: do you know when the paycheck will come? are you one of those folks

working without knowing when the paycheck will get to your bank account? caller: yeah, i don't know when that paycheck will get to my account, we are working free right now and we don't have any choice but to go to work to the airport to make sure the airplanes are safe and stuff like that. i think president trump is playing with lives. people have rent and mortgages getay and kids to feed to no check, especially right after christmas is very, very detrimental to our health. host: what has that meant for you and your family this holiday season? during of course, christmas time, i spent some extra money, not knowing this was going to happen. i am pretty strapped right now. i think we get one more half check coming in january, not even a full check, it is a half

a check and they basically told us it could go well into february, the shutdown and they would hand out notes to give to our creditors saying we are in the shutdown, could you give us a break or something. it is ridiculous, creditors are not going to do that. host: how are you planning if it goes that long? caller: i am probably going to try to get a loan or something like that to get me through, a credit union or something like that. banks are going -- totribute money to s us federal workers, especially tso agents. it is like we are in a rock and a hard place. tso agents are not allowed to go

home and sit down, we have to go and work every day. host: appreciate the call from indiana. carla in minnesota, supports the shutdown. go ahead. caller: i absolutely support the shutdown. i am tired of everybody blaming trump because he is causing drama. everything that man says there themhumer, pelosi, half of drunk people hollering about kavanaugh and everything, they are the ones causing drama. we don't like -- they don't like to see this stuff happening. it is happening. some people are going to get the good part, some people are going to get the bad part and the guy who was laid off, i can feel with him. theseappened to all

intelligent get to the government and three-month advance to make it through. they know it could happen. all these muslims in town or in-state have accomplished themselves and established themselves because they are for america. that is what happened, they wore . -- they were. now you have these coming in are not for america and the ones in offices are changing and i feel sorry for minnesota for doing what they did by putting three of them in. what doen you say them, you mean? you mean muslim elected officials in the united states? onesr: the muslim elected being elected now because they are not for the country. host: why do you think they are not for the country? do you oppose them because of their religion?

caller: they said they weren't gonna go for this and not do this and wasn't going to be that and as soon as they got in, they want everything changed. they want head gear in congregation. when they get in, they are swearing on the karana and they want to go -- koran -- if people cannot see what is happening in california, they have no clue that is going -- what is going to be happening. host: you don't think someone who is muslim should be able to swear on the q'oran? caller: absolutely not. you are swearing in the united states to uphold all of our stuff. obama was sign executive orders left and right before he was getting out. that was my first, what the heck is going on. trump even looks at a pen and he is going to do some major,

ohoh my god. i am glad we got a businessperson in there. host: this is blair in fremont, california, opposes the shutdown. go ahead. caller: thank you, john. the wall is environmentally unacceptable. we are forgetting that and moving onto who will pay for it. the --putting aside neat nepa rules left and right. host: now to hawaii. this is john in maui. why do you support it? caller: i support it because we have enough people right here in the united states that we need to take care of. from what i hear on the news, we've got another 15,000 people coming from honduras. i was watching a movie last

night, it was called the alamo and i realized that southern hours has been a pain in 1836.our side since , feel sorry for those people but you have to do it legally. theseart of legal don't people that are against the wall -- what they don't understand? this is america. a country is not a country without a border. host: how do you feel about the northern border? caller: the northern border, we have got people coming across the northern border, yes. not like we are having in the southern border. you go in to canada and they check you from one side and down

the other, even scan your car. we don't have a bad problem. we need to build a wall. we need to put a stop to this. they are coming over here and they are using welfare and everything else. they need to stay home and make their country great again. i am all for people having the right to come to the united states. like i said, do it legally. host: that is john in hawaii. we mentioned the 800,000 some federal workers who have been impacted by this ongoing partial government shutdown. many of them living in virginia. terry mcauliffe, a democrat was on cnn's state of the union yesterday and this was his advice to fellow democrats amid the shutdown. [video clip]

>> democrats should not give an inch. donald trump owns this. they had a deal, the senate unanimously voted for a cr to take it into february and the white house condoned the vote and took the vote and he listened to some right wing folks on radio who are his puppet masters and they challenged his manhood and pulled the strings, and coulter and rush limbaugh and he moved and said we are not going to go for it and here is where we are today. we have thousands of people in virginia, many of them will not be paid. if you work for a federal contractor like a woman -- who works at the state department, she will not be paid. people cannot live without a paycheck. contrary to what the republican congressman said, congress and perry said they don't need their paycheck. >> the counter to the argument you made is those people will not be paid longer if democrats

don't negotiate a little. >> january 3, democrats will come in and january 3, the first day, they ought to take up the bill the senate passed, send it to the senate. they already voted for it and desk.t to the president's this concrete wall is never going to be built. it's not a campaign promise. his campaign promise was we are going to build a wall and mexico is going to pay for it. he did not campaign for it saying americans will build a wall and you will pay for it. he owns this. a few minutes left in this first segment, asking for your thoughts on the government shutdown as it reaches day 10. if you support the shutdown, 202-748-8000. if you oppose it, 202-748-8001. federal workers, it is 202-748-8002. benjamin in a parked in, north carolina. opposes the shutdown. why do you oppose it?

caller: i oppose the shutdown president is not the -- the problem lies with the senate and the congress. they have kicked the can down the road for i don't know how long and all of this should have been taking care of. they know their job is to pass bills to fund the government from one fiscal year to the next and the democrats and the republicans in senate and congress aren't doing their job to do that. dhakaation and all these -- daca workers and everything, the same way. .hank you, john the shutdown.ort

he has been saying for 3.5 years he is going to build a wall and he is going to build a wall and whatever he needs to do to get that done, he needs to do. it is common sense. we need to protect our country. i don't understand why people don't see that. it's on the news every day where someone is getting shot, someone is getting killed and it comes down to sanctuary cities and illegals coming into our country. why not keep them out? it's pretty common sense. host: do you think president trump is getting the support he needs from congressional republicans? this is the headline from the washington post, mitch mcconnell disengages during shutdown, uncharacteristically sidelined, the senate leader seemed to have but the onus of ending the stalemate on democrats and trump. caller: i think trump needs to continue to do whatever he needs

to do to build the wall. shutdown more of the government. we have been talking about this -- i am 52 years old and we have been talking about it for 52 years. he is finally somebody that will not put up with it and he will do what he is going to do. i could care less who pays for the wall. i will pitch in. i will start a gofundme page. host: have you given money to the gofundme page already started? yesterday it was up to $17 million. caller: i am giving $50 a month until he gets what he needs. host: who are you going to give the $50 a month to? caller: the gofundme. build the wall. host: this is frank in maryland. go ahead. caller: i just have one comment. first of all, you have got to get rid of these morons that are bigots like the lady out of

minnesota saying this country was built on christianity. first of all, there is a separation between church and state in this country and there always has been according to our constitution. to have to pledge on the bible -- a christian bible is absolutely ridiculous if you are not a christian. those people have to get booted off the air right away. i don't care one way, i am a democrat. i don't care one way or the other for this shutdown. i think it is stupid. i think we should give the president $10 billion and not only can he build a wall, but we can put a moat out there and fill it with crocodiles. we might as well use tactics from the 15th century if we will be idiots and do stuff like that. it doesn't make sense when we have technology and drones that are heatseeking and field sensors, we could hire more border agents, those things make sense. the whole thing is stupid and

all a political ploy. that is all i have got. host: michael in jackson, missouri. good morning. these: the sad thing is people are not getting paychecks . sat back and used their brains for a couple minutes and thought about all the things, the money the government is spending on all these illegals coming over here would pay for this wall in one year if they would stop fighting and just agree that americans come first, period. americans, first. hello? host: go ahead, finish your thought. caller: i thought you hung up, i am sorry. if all the funding -- not only the funding, the safety -- these poor people getting killed,

diseases, the drugs they are bringing in, the fentanyl is all coming from the south and it has .ot to stop, it really does wall, fence, i don't care what it is. i definitely believe there should be some kind of wall or something so these customs agents aren't in direct danger from these people. these people are bad. if they want to come in, let them come legally. i don't care if they come legally. don't cross and bum rush hour border. if you did that in iran or iraq, they would shoot you, kill you. host: how do you feel about the people who come seeking asylum? should that be allowed to continue? caller: they are seeking asylum and uc what they are wearing?

designer shoes and sneakers. they are so deprived? it is disgusting. they are not coming to seek asylum. they are trying to come and better their lives, which i don't have a problem with, let them do it the legal way. int: that was our last call this first segment. a bit of a tradition on new year's eve, we ask you to look at on 2018 let us know your top news story of the past 365 days. tell us what you think 2018 will be remembered for. the phone lines are on your screen. you can call in now and we will be right back. ♪ ♪

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republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. as you are calling in, some local papers from around the country. bakersfield, california, looking at 2018. politics, religion, and violence colored our local headlines they write to the front page of the tribune herald out of hawaii. natural disasters top to the tribune herald stories of the year. the front page of the daily fentanyl in grand junction, colorado, school squabble top story of 2018. we are happy to hear about some of your local stories. here are some of the national headlines from the opinion section of today's papers. david in the new york times, the story of 2018 was climate change to the front page of the commentary section today. 2018, the war of the work -- in year of the worker.

some 4 million employees got bonuses due to the trump tax cuts. one more from robert samuelson ourthe washington post, unhappy new year, a pessimistic look back at 2018 and how americans are feeling their competence -- confidence in various institutions. comparing the percentage of those who have a lot of -- great deal of calm dents -- confidence. when it comes to the presidency, 37 percent of americans had a great deal or a lot of confidence in the presidency. 52% back in 1973. in congress, 11% had confidence. 42% in 1973. 20% had confidence in television 1973, 46%ring back to had great deal or a lot of confidence. we want to hear from you, what

were your stories you will most remember? columbus, up first, georgia. a democrat. good morning. caller: yes, about the wall. think it is and i this iscrazy because the land of plenty. of opportunity and stuff. we have people that build bridges and houses and a police force. -- those people are unemployed when we could train people in their countries or cities how to better their land instead of trying to come here and take our jobs. we could increase our workforce by hiring more people for our

law enforcement and military to do that and to help people around the world instead of building a stupid wall weed won't be able to benefit from. host: do you think the wall will end up being the story of 2018? caller: i think the wall is crazy. we have problems here. you need a lie detector on the judges and the attorneys to make sure they are doing their hippocratic oath. if they are doing something, get them out and get the best person for the job. news what was your top story of the year, sandra? caller: i don't know how north korea missed the radar of the top story of the year. offon't have him setting

hydrogen bonds or drone missiles over japan. it is a dance. it will take a while for it to settle down, but they are putting inroads to connect north and south korea together. it is amazing thing starting to break out in the world -- peace is starting to break out in the world. my second story of the year would be the q we've meant -- movement. host: why do you think that is the story of the year? you explained north korea, why do you think the q movement. caller: it has been a huge civics lesson over the last year. looking to see the corruption that invaded our politics. it is being really badly reported in the news. host: why do you think it should be considered a civics lesson? caller: a lot of people have learned about how our government

actually works. a lot of people don't know about civics. it has been a lesson in looking into things for yourself and learning how our system works and how it is supposed to work. host: how do you feel about conspiracy theories in general? caller: i am not really a conspiracy theory person. i look into my own facts on things and q has been written off as a conspiracy. if you look into q, you will find it is not a conspiracy, it is a connection of dots. look at this article and square -- these together in your mind. host: you bring up the meeting between president trump and kim jong-un of north korea. here is the president after that very high profile summit that happened in singapore. [video clip] >> we are very proud of what

took place today. i think our relationship with north korea and the korean peninsula will be a much different situation than it has been in the passed. we both want to do something. we have developed a very special bond. people are going to be very impressed and happy and we are going to take care of a very big and very dangerous problem for the world. i want to thank chairman kim. we spent a lot of time together today and i would say it worked out for both of us far better than anybody could have expected. i have watch the various news reports, far better than anybody predicted and this will lead to more and more and more and it is an honor to be with you. thank you to all of your representatives, very much. host: president trump and kim jong-un back in june.

we want to know what your top news story of 2018 was. sid in maryland, go ahead. caller: i think the legacy of the trump legacy is the biggest -- presidency is the biggest news of 2018. any time you have a president who tries to do the right thing and he has got the guts to stand up and back it up from moving to jerusalembassy and that happened -- what happened with north korea, including what he has done for veterans in this country. i think the trump presidency is the biggest news for 2018. who stands up and is not afraid to face criticism and he is not going around telling like themessed up previous administration did.

he is ready to go for it and fight for americans and put americans first. that is the biggest news. host: what do you think the 2018 election will mean when the trump presidency, the legacy of writtenp presidency is and house democrats pickup 40 seats and republicans picking up two seats in the senate? caller: that is not going to matter because nancy pelosi had these seats when the obama administration was around and she could only hold onto it for two years and she lost it read i don't think it will make any difference. i think the president is going to win a second term and his base will back them up. veterans will back him up and he and he ismerica first going to do a great job. with democrats winning the house -- if they were so great, they

should have won the senate. nancy pelosi accomplishing anything. they lost it within two years when democrats were in power. i don't think it will make any difference. host: that is sid in maryland. we will take you back to november 7, the day after the 2018 election and president trump offering his assessment of the results. [video clip] >> it was a big day yesterday, incredible day. last night, the publican party defied history to expand our senate majority while significantly beating expectations in the house for the midterm year. we did this in spite of a very dramatic fundraising disadvantage driven by democrats

wealthy donors and hostile media coverage. the media coverage set a new record and a new standard. we also had a staggering number of house retirements, so it is tough. these are seats that could have been held easily and we had newcomers coming in. it is difficult when you have that many retirements. we held a large number of campaign rallies with large, large numbers of people going to every one. we did not have a vacant or empty seat. i am sure you would have reported it a few spotted one. including 30 lap -- 30 rallies in the last 60 days and we saw the candidates i supported achieve tremendous success last night. as an example of the 11 candidates we campaigned with , nine won last week

last night. -- if werous campaign did not do the campaigning, there could have been. the history really will see what a good job we did in the final couple of weeks in terms of getting some tremendous people over the finish line. nancy pelosi with a very different assessment of the results of the 2018 election. here is nancy pelosi on the same day. [video clip] >> from the beginning, we focused on health care. two years ago today, the day after the election, not the same date, the same day after the election, everyone came together and said, we see the urgency and we want to take responsibility

and that gave us opportunity to protect the affordable care act. that was so essential to the health and financial security of a's working families and we knew it would be a target of the trump administration. just so you know, by that sunday, we had mobilized many of the groups outside. despiteame together where we might be on other issues to say this was our focus. after 7:45 a.m. on the east coast of this new year's eve edition of the "washington journal." we are asking for your top news story. nikki is waiting in illinois, a democrat. caller: yes. state was graced with

another trump, governor chris browner put the state of illinois at the bottom of everything. -- from people. people who had families and responsibility. goes around for circle and correct me if i am trump, as a young himon, his father enrolled into a private school so he would not be drafted. is that not correct? host: i am not sure i know his reasonings for enrollment. go ahead, make the connection to 2018. caller: i think it is really sad in 2018, how many presidents have we had that have reacted to things? he could not make the right

decision on people to put into this position or that position for very long. erase them and get somebody else. how many presidents have we had do that? host: this is bob in arlington, texas. what was the top story in your mind? caller: i think it was the corruption of the fbi. the disclosure of that corruption. the press ignored it completely. once those emails came out, it wit's --terrible to witness how the press followed along with it and did not realize what happened. as far as nancy pelosi goes, i think she has early stages of alzheimer's and i am an expert on that. host: how are you an expert on

that? caller: my wife has had alzheimer's for years. schumer has always said i am not going to do it. he has never said because. why is he withholding support for the wall? it is very simple. he is going to say it is a waste of money. there is enough fraud and abuse. i am a retired cpa. i could go up there and -- in two weeks and find waste fraud abuses. it would not make people happy. i am independent. i could find more waste fraud and abuse in two weeks. argument and i am surprised all the press converted over. place is the only way -- you can get true news. host: you started your comment

by talking about the justice department and your concerns about that department. i wonder what your thoughts are on how jeff sessions will be remembered during his time as attorney general in the trump administration? caller: jeff sessions will be remembered as a senator from alabama and unfortunately, that is about it because this is what happens when you try to put together a campaign and don't know the feeling -- people who have jumped on your bandwagon. he jumped on the bag like -- bandwagon. you don't have time to check out every nuance with what they are going to do. it injust a guy who lost -- caller: there were two stories

related that were important to me. the first one was cannabis cures cancer and the other related story, round up, the weedkiller gives us cancer. any logicalink scientific minded country would immediately get something off the market that gives us cancer and if they saw inroads into curing this disease, wherever they would find inroads, they would engage in research and try and advance the science. in the case of cannabis or marijuana, many, many, many roadblocks have been put in front of that research. of the leadingng country in the world on this research is israel. i could go on about that. the: what do you think

prospects are for marijuana legalization in 2019 the years to come? are you optimistic or pessimistic? caller: i am optimistic. the slide has already started on legalization and decriminalization. we already have 10 states where it is legal for medical use and maybe it is 25 states, 10 states legal for recreational use. this is a scientific issue. for the issue to be brought up about drug abuse and to demonize marijuana as some sort of gateway drug has been a campaign of bait and switch and to get us off the true issue. so many lives have been lou it -- ruined over this. throwing people in jail and denying people their medicine. this doesn't have to do with democrats or republicans. this has to do with taking care of each other. if we found out toothpicks

stopped traffic wrecks, all the highway patrol people would be interested in that research. i have made sort of a ridiculous comparison between toothpicks and auto wrecks, but this is how ridiculous this has become. like i said earlier, any thinking, logical people would want to head down the road of any endeavors that would solve these problems. host: what was the top new story in your -- of the year in your mind? caller: there were several, but i want to concentrate on everyone talking about the guy that killed the police man in california, the illegal alien. they are not focusing on things going on in local cities. we just heard a police officer lady get killed on christmas eve by a white, drunk driver.

that didn't make the news except for here in the city. it is awful. she left a nine-year-old son. it doesn't matter who gets killed, whether it is white or illegal or legal, we need to start loving each other and stop hating on people just because they are a different race. it doesn't make sense. there is so much going on in the world and they take one little thing and focus on that because they are hating on people. we sort ofoming, need to come together, democrats hatingublicans and stop on people because they are a different color from different religions. host: that california story is getting a whole lot of attention in the news and washington times. the suspect in that case, his time is gustavo perez caught

while trying to flee the u.s.. sheriff's blaming sanctuary laws in the state for the death of the officer ronald singh killed last week after a traffic and a shooting occurred in the traffic stop. i would like to say the respect and honor given to president bush really touched feel proudnd made me america stands for great things. it brings respect to great people and i would like to thank you guys and happy new year's. host: can you speak a little more about what touched you the most at either of those two funerals? what will you remember in terms

of who spoke on behalf of late senator mccain and late president bush? caller: when bush talked about his father, it made me see things a lot clearer as far as respect and the vision that america still stands and the same thing with john mccain. -- he could go across the aisle and speak to democrats and republicans and so did president bush. i think those were great people and god bless them. i think they showed a lot of respect for america. host: appreciate the call from tennessee. this is the first page of the usa today, many who helped shape the world. former senator john mccain, former president bush.

here is the president's son, also former president bush speaking at his father's funeral earlier this month. [video clip] >> the 41st president of the united states, in his inaugural address, said this. we cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account, we must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood, his town better than he found it. what do we want the men and women who work with us to say when we are no longer there? that we were no -- more driven to succeed than anyone around us or that we stopped to ask if a sick child had gotten better and stayed a moment to trade a word of friendship. we are going to remember you for exactly that and much more and we are going to miss you, your decency, sincerity and kind soul will stay with us forever.

through our tears, let know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man, the best father a son or daughter can have. in our grief, let's smile knowing dad is hugging robin and holding mom's up in heaven and holding montana again. former president george w. bush earlier this month. all of these things we're showing you are from the c-span archives. you can watch all of these events in their entirety at c-span.org. we will continue to show you them as we talk about the top news story of 2018. what will you remember? patricia in nevada, what do you think? caller: thank you for this wonderful show. it is informative. the goodeople remember

and the bad. i am calling because i am 80 years old. i was four years old when i had whooping cough. dad had to tend to my brother and me. old, seven10 years years ago, i still carried the car from my smallpox. we had so made diseases at age 10, around the same time. in the summertime, we had dog days. that was in august. that was when the lake was polluted and we were not allowed to go in it because the big thing was polio. all of these terrible, terrible hysteria tuberculosis, -- diphtheria, whooping cough,

so many children were lost to these. everybody got the sugar cubes, their shots. there in occupations. -- inoculations, and we eradicated society in the united states. most of these diseases which took so many lives. we are seeing a resurgence of all of these diseases again. illegals coming into the country. because when they come into the country illegally, they don't get the required inoculations, vaccinations, etc.. killing children in the united states. it is killing adults in the united states. tuberculosis. even a form of polio that probably will have to have a new vaccination.

believeally, i really that we need every means possible to keep these people out until they get the required vaccinations and come into this country legally. host: patricia, you started your comment by saying that we will remember the good and the back, what do you think will be the good that you will remember 2018 for? caller: the good i will remember 2018 for is that we have a president who stands up for what we believe in. we give him the input. we are the ones that are the people of the united states. that comes the good from having donald trump as president. host: that is patricia in nevada. today teachesusa military history in gettysburg college. talking about the conversation he had with his daughter about

2018. his millennial age daughter said 2018 was the worst year ever. she cites rampant political partisanship and featured all, sexual violence and worsening wage and income inequality. it never seems to end and that the middle eastern wars have caused numerous casualties. she says she points out the mass shootings of 2018. year's recordast number of opioid overdoses. -- he hadonversation a conversation with his daughter about 1968, saying he remembers robert kennedy's assassination. the polarization over the vietnam war. nearly 15,000 u.s. service vietnam.ere killed in he points out the racial divides, the assassination of martin luther king jr.. democratic national convention. he ended the call my writing

that i understand why young people view 2018 has a terrible year. i agree it has been pretty bad. but for many my age, 1968 will hopefully be the worst year we endured. thickly that your came to an end. as will this one. 1968 was painful but we came through it. we learned lessons and made changes. you can read his column in today's usa today. in bethesda maryland, up next, a democrat, good morning. that the wanted to say woman who was on, patricia, there is no evidence of what she said that mexicans coming across the border or causing these diseases. this only goes to what i think is the biggest issue in the united states that we are still so delighted. we are -- divided. we are still so divided. unless we come together, this is going to get worse and worse.

there is a train coming toward us at full speed and that is climate change. we are avoiding it, ignoring it because we are paying attention to other horrible things. one of the reasons we are divided is because we don't know what the truth is anymore. a lot of good people on both sides are searching for the truth. seeannot look across to what the truth is. where are we getting our news? why can we get news from different places? let's keep in mind that we were attacked by another country who wants to so discord here. why is our president still not addressing that? i want to say one thing. when i was watching the funeral of george herbert walker bush, i hated him. myad been a staunch democrat whole life. when i watched that funeral and i saw the president lined up like that, it occurred to me that george herbert walker bush

's greatest victory over donald trump was to have him attend that funeral. to invite him to that funeral. we were able to see what a great president does and what a terrible president is. when the soldiers picked up a coffin and started walking him off, the presidents stood up and all of them put their hands on their hearts. i literally, in my pajamas, in my living room, put my hand on my heart and i started crying. like a baby. because we had lost this great man. i did not know he was a great man because i had not learned the truth about him. america, this year, learn the truth. because ther climate is gorgeous eye and we are going to die with it. david in the new york times writes this, amid

everything else going on, don't lose sight of the most important story of the year. i know there is a lot of competition, including more obvious contenders like president trump and robert mueller but nothing measures up to the rising toll and enormous climate change. i worry that our children and grandchildren will ask is why we spent so much time distracted by lesser matters. is up next in massachusetts. an independent. what was the top story in your mind? caller: my top story this year is about the wall. amazing the way we are so divided about this wall. my biggest concern about the wall is this. states, our roads, they are in horrible condition. toody wants to foot the bill fix the roads.

and the bridges. my question to america is this, what is why we are building the wall? how will we see as a people something like that happen when we are building concrete. maintain -- we will not maintain a 2000 mile wall. we have so much, men and women coming home and can't find work anywhere. this is causing them to get sick mentally. how about lending some money? opportunity.he why don't the senate and the present find a way that they will return home. they can be transferred in some way and the border patrol

officers. we will have it on both ends where -- they can be border patrol. we have too much of our men and women coming home and cannot find work. and all of us are thinking about building a wall. host: gregory in massachusetts. this is scott in michigan. a republican, go ahead. caller: yes, i think one of the top story should be how so many people in this country believe that you can put one man in office for two years and expect him to fix all of the problems of the nation. that is ridiculous. it has never been done. nobody has been able to do it. what do you think president trump has done in two years? caller: i think he has done good with the taxes.

i think he is doing good with the veterans and the military. he has a lot of a customer -- accomplishments. he does not get credit for it. host: a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, david. turned on your television. caller: one of the most important events in 2018 was the decision to leave syria. russia benefits from the u.s. leading syria. made usknow why trump weaker in the middle east by having us leave syria. a lot of people ask about this issue and some people think trump is an idiot. democratsw, trump and have issues on border security. we saw that democrats and republicans -- i think the mueller

investigation is important. that is one of the reasons for starting the resistance movement in our country. i think this is the death of democracy. that is david in new york city. among the issues you bring up, is relationships in the middle east. and what president trump has done, is doing and how it will affect u.s. policies, especially when it comes to iran. one of the things the president did in may was to pull out of the iran nuclear deal. here's the president making the announcement from the white house. president trump: the iran deal is defective at its core. if we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen. in just a short window of time, the world's -- in just a short

period of time, the world's most dangerous weapons. therefore, i am announcing today, that the united states will withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. in a few moments, i will sign a beginential memorandum to reinstating u.s. nuclear sanctions on the iranian regime. we will be instituting the highest level of economic sanctions. any nation that helps iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the united states. america will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail. host: that was president trump back in may. in california, a independent. what do you think was the top new story of the year? caller: definitely the wall.

it is creating so much havoc. dichotomy that is going on in the country. house -- a house that is divided will fall. during the time when ronald said mr. go over, teardown the wall, at the time when reagan was president and everyone was bashing him, i came up during the time of republicans and democrats of that time. it was a different field. in the white house. -- it was a different feel in the white house for the democrat and republican parties. they were not like this. it was a whole different idea. and they did reach across the aisle. and they worked together. dealing with the wall situation,

times have changed. it is almost saying i'm not going to protect the house and anyone can come in and it's ok. it is not that you are putting down human beings or trying to be mean to human beings, that is not the issue. the issue is about laws. in laws in the country, laws immigration. and putting these things in place to where they will not fall and they will -- won't crack but keep them in a type of order. that people will abide by. it is like keeping your house clean or keeping things up and maintaining. the beauty in everything that you have. you cannot let someone come in and tear things apart or rip things apart and not saying that

human beings are doing that. you can see that they are so desperate, what needs to happen is maybe, trying to help or do something to help them build their country. host: that is on in california. abraham lincoln's house divided speech. this pull from usa today in suffolk university talks about how americans feel about america coming together and political leaders coming together. in that pull, the most frequent suggestion from voters looking ahead to 2019 was for washington to resolve two starts -- stop wobbling and work along party lines. 9% proposed a new year's resolution to impeach trump. including 17% of democrats and 23 percent of african-americans. that nationwide poll of 1000

registered voters was taken earlier this month. there was concerns about what 2019 will mean for the nation. more than 37% were feel full -- fearful on the question. -- blicans had it 17% were feel full -- fearful among different get -- democrats. joyce is in new jersey, a republican, go ahead. um, i was listening to you read that article. this is the first time i have called in so i am trying to figure out how it works. i'm trying to figure why the democrats -- hello? host: i'm listening. caller: i am trying to figure out why the democrats don't want a wall. it seems so irresponsible.

to put us all in danger like that. whattrying to figure out is their game plan. i did a little reading and in order to have a one world government, is not to have a wall. they are going to fight a wall until they get their plans for their agenda accomplished. it just doesn't make sense. do they love our country? or do they just want to bring danger to us? host: joyce, how do you think this shutdown will in? -- in? --end? caller: i don't the gets going to work. i really don't. i really don't get 20 work. host: this is dennis in st. louis, missouri. a democrat, good morning. caller: yes sir. i am a retired teacher.

and i think the bigger story that is being neglected, the big story is donald trump. modeling fortrump our kids. ofwing up in the era trump is dangerous. he is creating deliberate division. creating ethnic, national lines. is ruining our faith and basic institutions. political parties, the press, it goes on and on. it is endless. the impact on our kids could be devastating. take as a generation or two to recover from this. this has little to do with political parties. in fact, i would like to end with the point that i think the most poignant criticism of the point i am making is coming from a whole bunch of conservative writers.

that is largely being ignored by donald trump's voters. point, i think his voters are being full. i think donald trump actually hates this country. he does not love it. he loves himself and that is what he is serving. and i think, until we reverse this, we have to start with the house. a long time.o take at least a generation. i appreciate your time. host: don't go just yet. let me ask you, as a retired teacher, what you think 2018 will be remembered for when it the ongoing issues? caller: it is one more issue that we are unable to address. it is horrible, obviously. teachers,ot of teachers are concerned about this. most don't want to be armed, i want to tell you that. whereit is another case

we are showing disrespect for encouraging gun -- not encouraging gun control. we politicize it. i don't see that getting any better, either. i should not be that pessimistic because a lot of young kids are actually rising up and voting and getting organized. maybe there is some hope. hope is in the young people, it is not the people my age who are on social security. host: that is dennis in st. louis, missouri. this is from the washington nd photo.ar e for our livesrch back in march of this year. calling for action when it comes to school shootings and violence in the united states. that march for our lives taking place here in d.c.. several others taking place around the country. parkland high school student am

a guns dollars spoke at that gonzalesemma guns spoke. everyonene absolutely was forever altered. everyone who was there understands. everyone who has been touched by the cold drip of gun violence understands. keratotic --ul, chaotic hours were spent not knowing. no one understood what had happened. no one could believe that there were bodies in that building waiting to be identified for over a day. that the people who were missing had stopped breathing long before any of us have even known that a code red have been called. no one could comprehend the devastating aftermath or how far this would reach or where this would go.

for those who still can't comprehend because they refuse -- i will tell you very went where it went. right into the ground, 60. six minutes 20 seconds of an ar-15 and my friend would never complain to me about piano practice. never walk into school with his brother, ryan. scott would never joke around with karen at camp. helena would never hang out with max. gina whenever waved your friend, liam at lunch. walking would never play bass wall. chris would never, luke would , alyssaeter would never would never, jamie would never. host: coming up on 8:30 on the

east coast. on this new year's eve edition of the washington journal, we are asking what the top story was. , republicans, independents, and democrats, we want to hear from you. texas --reenville greenville, texas, independent, go ahead. caller: hello, thank you for taking my call. what a powerful show this morning. folks are touching on some really, really important issues that our country is facing. i think if you summed up this tor, it would come down diversion. -- trump administration, not think he is good or bad, but likewhole year has seemed

one big diversion to get us away from the fact that our countries and chaos. we are on the precipice of something that is revolutionary. we are looking at the dismantling of our government. disregard for at law and order in this country. we are looking at people finally speaking up. you did some clips about 68 and the new story. clip ofhe wonderful president bush's funeral. and, you know, we are stronger as a country but we are being torn apart in every direction.

whether it is the wall, whether it is politics, whether it is gun violence, it is all of this stuff. it is all seeming draconic. but i think the biggest story that we have the instruction of our justice system. in dealing with what is the fabric that holds this country together, that no one is above the law. and i think, going back to a year and a half ago, when i spoke on your show about the whole deal about manafort and what he was doing, we need to get back to focus on that. and if this resolved so we can move forward and reinstall law

and order in this country. and have people rise to their highest level of integrity in government. that, theeople do political divide that we are if theyy in, people, have good morals and if they believe the rule of law and they believe in justice and they believe in america, will eliminate this partisan politics that we have going on. we will get back to being that shining city on a hill. host: when you say we need to get this resolved, are you talking specifically about the mueller investigation itself? caller: well, the mueller investigation, what occurred it isis kind of like -- like the foundation of this government apparatus that

is going on in this country. we do not need to be influenced by outside entities coming in. and some of the people that were involved in that, especially the manafort angle of it, about the connections to russia. the connections to money laundering, the connections to corruption, just the absolute disregard for law and moral integrity. to have that as part of the political process, i think is kind of the route that led us to where we are today. to a lot of people just need let this play out. take back over this country. let the rule of law take back over this country. and we are moral people. i don't care if you're democrat, or republican, it makes a

difference. americans. americans are moral people. we need to get back to that. host: are you optimistic that happens in 2019? or at least that we move in that direction? caller: i am scared to death because, you know, reality sets in. we are building a world that we think is somehow for all of us. the reality is we are building any quality. we are facing a dilemma coming up that people don't even realize what artificial -- when artificial intelligence kicks in, 90% of the people who think they have jobs of importance because of their wisdom are going to be eliminated. how do we deal with that? we have climate change. you could listen to me right now and i am sure you're thinking,

he is a pessimist. you know what? i am. but i believe in people's ingenuity. i believe that americans will figure out a way to get through this. hopefully we will build and draft a better society going ford for our grandchildren. host: we will take you to a scene from earlier this month on capitol hill. james comey before he testified before investigators spoke about the mueller investigations. he spoke about calling republicans to stand up to president trump when it came to some of these issues. >> another day of hillary clinton's females. -- emails. this, but the president is lying about the fbi, attacking the fbi and attacking the rule of law in this country. how does that make any sense?

republicans used to understand that the actions of a president mattered. the words of a president mattered. the rule of law matters and the truth matters. where are those republicans today? at some point, someone has to stand up and, in the face of their base and fear of mean tweets, stand up to the values of this country and not slink away into retirement. stand up and speak the truth. host: taking your calls this morning about your top news pennsylvania is next. a democrat, what do you think? caller: i like your show. first-time caller, might be nervous. i want to talk about fake news, i'm sorry, fear news. life,ral my whole conservative the older i get. i am 62. machines my whole life. i'm getting off track. anyway, the fear news, i have lived my whole life not afraid

of much and in love with my country and the way it is here. but the fear news has created separation and a lot of families. -- in a lot of families, even my own. how doared because -- you talk and i want to say before i forget, if there is a , howiatrist i can call in do you talk to people that believe in things that are untrue and do not even want to understandthing to it? or believe it? as a country, that scares me because that type of separation that politics has gotten so ,ooted, even in the families that thing scares me the most. news alex, what organizations do you read? what cable television stations do you watch?

caller: i watch all of them. all three. there is not 100% either way. -- i don'tou know believe there is someone coming around the corner to take my stuff. i don't feel afraid when i walk outside. i don't look at people with a different skin color any different than i look at anybody these thingsthat -- i don't know how we can get over this hurdle to be able to talk to each other. we're never going to get anywhere. host: one high-profile moment in cable news happened at president trump's post-midterm news conference in which he clashed with jim acosta. here is that scene. president trump: i think you should let me run the country,

you run cnn, if you did it well, your ratings would be higher. >> mr. president -- >> that's enough. >> pardon me, ma'am. on the russian investigation, are you concerned -- >> i'm not concerned about anything because it is a hoax. that's enough. put down the mic. are you worried about indictments coming down in this investigation? mr. president. >> cnn should be ashamed of itself, having you working for them. you're a rude, terrible person. you should not be working for cnn. go ahead. host: that was on november 7, 2018. we're asking you what your story was of the full 12 months. what you think? caller: thank you for take my call, are you still there? host: yes, sir. caller: you are playing lots of

things and all of what i am --ing is total disrespect seeing is total disrespect to this president. and i am not sure there is any one issue that you can point out. if you look at it going into 2019, the biggest story is all of this. it has to do with president trump using the term "drain the swamp." it is revealing the hypocrisies and the other stuff that is existing. in dce. -- in washington, d.c.. without him winning this election, we would never know how our elected officials and intelligence agencies looked into overthrowing, there was interference in the election. the russians are laughing at this, to be honest with you.

where do you begin? we need a border wall. in texas, we definitely need it. i have been on the border and seen what goes on. these liberals that are standing there, playing politics have no real concept of what is going on outside. the real world is looking at this and they are seeing this and laughing. and it is sad. if it was not so serious, it would be funny. when you see these guys running ,round, i won't use any names all they are after is their own agendas. when i see what is happening in baltimore. when i see what is happening in california. when i see this across the board and nobody wants to address it. need --

it is wanting to be destroyed and torn down. the sad part about it is that these guys are grabbing the ball and running with it. -- i hopeneeds to be we can do a politically. it does not seem to be working. -- kenhat is 10 in texas in texas. there is a president's tweet from s about border security. been anhern border has open wound where drugs, and criminals, including human traffickers and illegals would pour into our country. democrats should get back here and fixed now. the president, we will keep monitoring his tweets for you. as we continue taking your calls about the top news story in 2018. katherine in north conway new hampshire -- north conway, new hampshire. caller: this will take me one

minutes. comment is we miss you, stephen hawking. tv and newspaper articles who and talk about people who died this year, it has been stated that religion and science have opposing positions on the afterlife. is there a heaven or nothingness? religion and science are saying the same thing, just using different words about the afterlife. people experiencing near-death speak of speed traveling and the brightest of lights, until time stands still. and being in a divine, timeless piece. traveling not the speed of light squared on earth? death occurs,when

do we not become einstein's e? energy in eagles in c square? squared? i will say again, we miss you stephen hawking. host: was that a quote your reading? caller: no, i wrote it. host: stephen hawking, one of the legends lost according to usa today's front page. from fort worth texas, a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. i guess the story that concerns me the most out of 2018 would be the resignation of them -- general mattis. reading his resignation letter should alarm and alert the people of this country. , whatr going into 2019

you did not ask about what it relates to general mattis, is south korea.f the closing of installations in japan. i understand that the current administration likes to see a net return on dollars spent. count the return on those troops in those places. they are there for one specific purpose. and that's to protect the european continent. the asian continent. and to get us out of the next war. so, there is not a dollar and cents you can put on that. is a something that

protection to keep us safe. pulling out those troops and what it is doing to our alliances. and i also fear the upcoming nato conference in february. where that mainly. thank you. host: you mentioned the departure of secretary mattis. how did you feel about the departure of john kelly? caller: um, i think general kelly was probably a good man. and circumstances were overwhelming and basically he could not control being a general. youare used to control and do not have a control the white house. thank you. host: that was joan in texas. that interview, and

exclusive interview with john kelly, it was a two our interview. john kelly says his tenure as trump's chief of staff is best measured for what the president did not do. he said that the administration has long since dropped plans for -- barrier along the southern border. he said it is not a wall. says they envision a physical barrier in some spots, supplemented by technology and other uses of technology along the border. if you want to read that interview, it is in the l.a. times. it came out late yesterday morning. tennessee,smyrna, what was the top story in your mind? caller: there were so many. the one that stuck out to me was the kavanaugh hearing. he was very much missed treated. treated.

there was no need to put batman through that. -- put that man through that. woman, she claims it did not happen at all. he showed that the difference in the politicians in the republicans and democrats, they are going to stand up, both parties. i am a republican. independent --n i'd like to say i'm an independent. i have to vote as a republican because i am a christian. it shows that they cannot get along. they never have been able to get along. donald trump, getting up the he played nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. that theythe people

cared more about the democratic vote and securing our border. that is a no-brainer. donald trump showed the american people, he played them. he showed how mean they were, how they don't like him. and they are not going to get him anything because they dislike donald trump that much. that is not what it is about. host: coming back to the brett kavanaugh confirmation hearings, what do you think those hearings did to americans perceptions of the supreme court tackled their trust of the supreme court, what do you think the legacy will be of those confirmation hearings? caller: it put a damper and a shadow on it. it hurt the supreme court. that is the highest law we have in the land. because of what they did, they damaged the supreme court. , and a lotom now on of people probably won't even want to be nominated because

they will be rate over the coals, especially with the democrats controlling the house. i think it hurt the nominees that are going to be coming up here pretty soon. the one ladyave that had the cancer. she is getting up in age. i believe people are not going to want to get in there. i think it is a shame if they do that to them. michael, ais republican in tennessee. we take our viewers back to september, two brett kavanaugh's final appearance. his opening statement there. >> this confirmation process has become a national disgrace. the constitution gives the senate an important role. the confirmation process. but you have replaced consent with search and destroy. since my nomination, there has been a frenzy on the left to come up with something, anything

to block my confirmation. shortly after i was nominated, the democratic senate leader said he would "oppose me with everything he has got." a democratic senator on this committee probably referred -- publicly referred to me as evil. evil, think about that word. he said that those who supported me were "complicit in evil." another democratic senator said "judge kavanaugh is your worst nightmare." a former head of the democratic national committee said "judge kavanaugh will threaten the lives of millions of americans for decades to come." i understand the passions of the moment. but i would say to those your words have meaning.

millions of americans listen carefully to you. giving comments like those, is it -- given comments like those, is it any surprise that people will be willing to do anything to make any physical threat against my family. ? to send any violent email to my wife? to make any allegations against me and my friends, to boil me up and take me down? wed the wind for decades to come. i feel -- fear the deck -- country will reap the whirlwind's. host: christine blasey ford also testified before the judiciary committee. >> i am here not because i want to be. i am here because i believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while brett kavanaugh and i were in high school.

i have described the events probably before. i summarized them in my letter. and again in a letter. i understand and appreciate the importance of hearing from you directly about what happened to me and the impact it has had on my life and all my family. i grew up in the suburbs of washington, d.c.. a school in bethesda, maryland from 1978 to 1984. it is an all girl school that opened in 1901. during my time, girls frequently with allecame friends landon,ool's, including georgetown prep, and gonzaga high school. this is how i met brett kavanaugh.

the boy who sexually assaulted me. it is just after 8:45 a.m. on the east coast, spinning our morning on the washington journal -- spending our morning on the washington journal, talking with the bureaus about the desperate viewers about the top news stories of 2018. give us a call. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 michael is a democrat and is waiting, good morning. caller: happy new year. i am down in florida. the top news story in the nation's mind is not necessarily the horrible shooting because there have been shootings across the country but our reaction, let me be specific, our children's reaction to the shooting.

us to fixing out to it once and for all. this is the year of women and children. o misogyny.nd t it is a focus on the moral mirror of what is happening in our schools. and at the national level as well. after no longer going separating black and white students from bad children. good from bad people. .aying that we are all the same the solution is for us to see the humanity in each other and treat children, not to come up with a new name for them to dehumanize them. they do not become students the minute you step over an imaginary line into public property, they are children at all times and need to be respected. here, the focus has been on guns. spent 200 million -- we have not spent $200 million that

we should have to meet the minimum guidelines to provide mental health for our children. this is not our children failing. this is not a feeling of security. this is a failing of our morality and not being adult. it is time for us to change that. i am looking forward to the next year. thank you. host: another one of those parkland hospital students who spoke in march was david, hoch. voters, theytime vote 18 percent of the time in midterm elections. not anymore. applause]d >> who was going to go in the 2018 election? >> [cheers and applause] >> if you listen close, you can hear the people in power shaking

. they have gotten used to being protective of their positions, with the safety of an action. inaction is no longer safe. more.", we say "no people die every day from guns in our country. yet, most representatives have no public stance on guns. and to that, we say "no more." we are going to make this a voting issue. we are going to take this to every election, to every state and every city. we are going to make sure the .est people get in not as politicians but as americans. , this is not cutting it! host: we have been having this conversation, you have been joining in on facebook and

twitter as well as calling in. we appreciate that. a few comments from social media. jim wright and that the story of tweaking was the media's attempt to take down the president and watching the washington elites try to create a crime against president trump. brian says the utter chaos of our government was the story of 2018. jodi says we are the land of the immigrants. william says the rescue of the football team was the most positive story. ine us a call like tim did michigan, an independent, good morning. caller: hello, happy new year, good morning to you. host: same to you. moderatorsall of the that come on, and come and go, you hit the ground running. the others were shaky but they are up to speed. host: we love all of the moderators here. we think they are great. thank you for the call.

what do you think the top story of 2018 is? caller: if i may, i love listening to your show and callers that colin. i love them. to the guy in maryland, let them have their rant. robert and the president montana, i love hearing from you guys. the woman in maryland, i want to talk about illegal immigration. these clans are right about immigrants bringing disease and crimes. was a600 years ago, there massive invasion of illegal immigrants that were disease carrying things like syphilis, andrrhea, smallpox, measles

then they became genocidal, , killed land tyrants hundreds of millions of people that were leading lives. yeah, you're right about the illegal immigrants, that role, -- wall, that is ridiculous. is nothing more than a trump ego soothing. the democrats and robert mueller grant him his fondest 4 -- fourive him sturdy walls with sturdy iron doors. have a hyper dash hyphae new year -- have a happy new year. 9:00,as we come up on

some news out of washington, out of massachusetts. elizabeth warren has jumped into the 2020 presidential campaign, offering a message of economic populism as she becomes the best-known democratic candidate to enter what is expected to be a crowded race. this is the washington post story on her announcement. the announcement that she is establishing an exploratory committee which is a precursor to a run. several senators made preparations for their own announcement, some are expected within days. video,ocrats said in a how did we get here? billionaires and big corporations decided they wanted more of the pie and enlisted politicians to cut them a bigger slice. the biographical showing her oklahoma upbringing. charts illustrating how the

middle-class is losing economic ground. aides conway and areer and stephen k bannon included. that news coming out of massachusetts this morning. looking ahead to 2020. even as we take a look back to 2018 and your top news stories of the year. ed is next, a republican, good morning. caller: good morning, i love your show. i have been watching it for the last two years and i have been retired. i liked the senate hearings. i saw the attack on judge kavanaugh, his family. these people who are running for president on the democratic side were not believers. i cannot believe what they did to that man. if they were willing to do something like that to a high rate person my key is, what is or do happen to someone who

becomes president? i am scared. dividing democrats and republicans, people who believe situations like that without proper judgment do not belong in public office, not in this country. that is all i have to say. host: are you looking ahead to 2020 as well -- you are looking ahead to jointly as well. matt made some predictions in the washington post's look ahead to the year to come. 2019 will determine who can raise money, not only the biggest amount but the most people. by june, debates will begin. in august, contenders will be parading around the iowa state fair pretending they like eating pork on a stick. there is no iraq war vote. -- like in 2008. can they tune out donald trump's

commentary on the whole thing? it will include perhaps a new space, or even a former nominee. hillary clinton, who supporters still stroke speculation that she could run. michael bloomberg and schulz will -- mayors, including the mayor of los angeles could introduce himself to the nation. bernie sanders and elizabeth warren, kamala harris and cory booker will look to capitalize on energy, the parties black voters. everything changed when -- if oprah -- we look ahead to the 2020 election. nancy, in north carolina, a democrat, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. where do we we begin -- we

begin? i agree with the woman in atyland, i started crying whe the president bush funeral. we are in that jacket.ut that disgusting jacket. she claims that the media was commenting about it. what did you expect? that was the most disrespectful thing i have ever seen a first lady do in my life and i am 69. iraq. host: the jacket you were talking about, the one that said i really do not care on it? caller: exactly. how disgusting. does she not expect criticism for it? she did it to make a statement and then whined because the

media criticized her for. what did she expect? viewers --ng some showing the viewers some pictures from elle magazine. caller: that was disgusting. and then now let's jump to potus. in iraq finally visiting his toy soldiers he likes to play with. saying to the troops that he himself gave them a 10% raise. that was a blatant lie. and yet potus supporters think he is the best thing since sliced bread. those soldiers know what their paychecks look like. those hats and everything. that commander who was in charge should be raked over the coals. never have i seen any president treat soldiers that way.

he treats them like toy soldiers. host: that is nancy, north carolina. this is mark in hackensack, new jersey. an independent. go ahead. . caller: good morning. very sad to hear the anger from that last caller. our first lady is a wonderful woman who is helping children throughout this country. story, i wouldop say the recent press conference in california where the police stated that the sanctuary -- and the in democrats who refused to allow local police to cooperate with ice were responsible for the officer, the immigrant mr. singh. to see his brother break down in

tears was a powerful and genuine which the fake news media obviously downplayed because it does not fit their agenda for bashing our president. google angelst family. those are individuals who have lost members to violence, to murder, and i am not talking about legal immigrants. we are talking about criminals. like the picture you are showing. that criminal who was allowed to walk free who murdered that incident -- that innocent police officer. host: here are the comments from the sheriff, adam christiansen. the picture and story you saw on your screen from the washington times today. the sheriff blamed california sanctuary law from preventing local authorities from reporting

the alleged shooter to u.s. immigration officials for deportation after two previous drunken-driving arrests. the fact thatre this was preventable. the sheriff told reporters. it is a conversation we need to have. the sheriff called for stricter laws at the news conference. the brother of the officer shed tears next to him. caller: thank you for reading that. there is right and there is wrong. there is laws. the democrats are on the wrong side of this. i am all for legal immigration. this officer who was murdered was a legal immigrant trying to help protect the citizens of california. host: that is marked in new

jersey. we will head out to california. helen is in fullerton, california. a republican. caller: i like that trump has removed our troops from syria. as rand paul said in support of his division -- of his decision, we have been fighting for 17 years. afghanistan. he said, of what value is human life when all we can say is, we have gotten control of another village in afghanistan? we are a nation. we are a republic. not an empire. and branchesngress of government wake up to that fact. of the to be taking care needs of the united -- the needs of the people of the united states. not worrying about the quality of roads and education in

afghanistan. or weapons in iraq. i support that. talksadd something that about the wall and immigration? what people may not realize is that immigrants and the children of immigrants primarily from mexico have been fighting and dying in american wars. especially the war on terror, which takes place in the middle east. demonizing a whole ethnicity culture by generalizing from a symbol of a few to aim -- to millions of others. this just gets scary because it breeds divisiveness. it breeds suspicion and contempt. i am tying those two together. thank you for taking my call. host: on your comments about u.s. foreign policy, this column

today in the wall street journal by water need calling the liberal international order the biggest loser. he writes that the liberal international order, the post-cold war system that the u.s. and its closest allies hoped would shape global politics is the biggest loser of the past year. the idea that democracy, market-based economic systems, and the rule of law would spread from the west to the post-communist east and the global south -- international institutions would replace the competition of the states by developing rules-based approaches to issues from trade to climate change. great powers like russia and china never liked this approach seeing it as a disguised form of u.s. hegemony and a threat to their political system. the aspiration for a liberal world system. it buckled in 2018 further under the stress. glenn is in detroit, michigan.

a democrat. caller: good morning. there are so many things that are the top story. one thing i think has been overlooked is who is running for president on the democratic party. gore and john al kerry are the two most experienced that could put this country back together. al gore has experience with climate change. we need that. john kerry has experienced with the international community. we need someone who can get us back together with our allies and everything. i think that al gore should be president and john kerry should be the vice president and that will help straighten out a lot of these problems we have. beto o'rourke, he can wait. all of the other ones, they can

wait. we need someone with experience in those areas to get our country back together. host: it looks like elizabeth warren is not waiting. how do you feel about her candidacy? caller: she does not bring to the table what we actually need right now. right now, we need to get climate control -- climate can change under control. we need to get our international relations together. all of that other stuff, they are for that. john kerry and al gore would be the great pair to bring this country together. no one is talking about that. they might mention that he said that or they mentioned that, that they are not pulling them out to get interviews on their positions or what they feel like they do to regulars. like elizabeth warren. i cannot think of the other names.

i think the country needs to think about that. that is the type of strong leadership we need right now at this moment. happy new year to everyone. i hope 2019 is better than 2018. host: curt is next in brownsville, new jersey. an independent. caller: good morning. it was a heck of a ride watching the news. i would say the lawlessness. are you still with us? i think we lost him. diane is in somerset, ohio. what is the top news story of 2018? caller: i feel that judge discourageds just to the nth degree. there is no reason that anyone -- host: no reason anyone should what? caller: have to be put through

that to get into the supreme court for heaven sake. to turn down your tv and talk to the phone. keep going. thatr: ok, and i think --t he had done in his past what has that got to do with his intelligence of his legalism that he spent most of his life trying to get through and has gotten through to be the ultimate candidate for the supreme court? it is a disgrace what the government -- i am not just blaming democrats. i am blaming them all for what they said and did to him. that wast lady come on in high school with him, if

anyone noticed when she walked away, there was an envelope that was stuck in her lawyer's pamphlet. i do not know if anybody caught that. i think she was paid off to go up there and say that disgraceful things about brett kavanaugh. host: you think if there was a payoff, it would've happened at the hearing that she was testifying in front of? caller: yes. host: that is diane in ohio. john is in wisconsin. a democrat. good morning. , hasr: i would like to say donald trump ever recommended anybody for any post that has been any good? that includes cavanaugh -- cavanaugh -- that includes judge kavanaugh. i could not go with that man's recommendations.

he is terrible. he does lie. he did say that he gave the soldiers 10% when he was over they. he did not -- when he was over there. he did not give them 10%. how can you believe in a liar? host: what did you about just as gorsuch and that -- justice gorsuch and that nomination? caller: i thought that he was not the person either. that would probably do what we would want to do. we need someone to not be biased. we need someone to be there to represent the people. not just a few. thank you. host: your concerns about the president's use of the truth. this from the washington post fact checker. he has come on to talk about his column. he writes today that trumpet -- that trump averaged 15 false statements a day. he notes that they started the new year of lies on january 2,

making false claims about the favorite targets. the tweets that started the year of unprecedented deception during which trump became increasingly unmarred from that -- on mordant from the truth. 989 false claims according to the fact checkers database, which tracks every suspect statement honored by the president -- statement uttered by the president. averaging about 15 erroneous claims a day. julia is in colorado. an independent. . good morning caller: good morning -- an independent. good morning. caller: i believe the top story of the year was when trump brought home the remains of american soldiers from north korea. since ween a long time

were in war in korea. --have had a lot of men any one of those men could have chosen to bring home those remains. that very important issue. as president, i believe the president should be representing all of the people of the united states. thatis something definitely represents all of the people of the united states. donald, but i do believe giving people credit where credit is due. the one thing that trump has done since he has been in office, not just this year, is bring home the remains of those soldiers. i do believe in giving him credit for this one act. missouri, colorado to

this is gail. a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, john. happy new year. the story i have got is really interesting. like i have said before, where do we start? that they gave out of the united states to whoever -- and then applies for them, if the news media would start reporting those out, the ones going on? the one i am talking about a southwest keys. houston,acility in texas, arizona, wherever. it is run by one sanchez. -- by juan sanchez. his wife, jennifer sanchez, they have gamed the system while supplying a secure place for

those kids on the border. from my research, they are paying out -- our government is paying juan and his group $70 a day to bring those kids into the united states and we pay for them. for them,e are paying that is taking things away from the things that we need as citizens. i am a senior citizen myself. i have doctor bills. dental bills. everything else that i have to pay for on top of my taxes. thesese -- who pays for grants, john? happy new year. host: to ray in pennsylvania. a republican. caller: i wanted to say that i really appreciate c-span. if it was not for c-span, i probably would not watch cable tv at all.

appreciate that. go ahead. caller: about border security, i was thinking that it is curious that there are so many technologies nowadays that would seem to be cheaper. i am not sure they are, but why is a big physical wall really necessary nowadays? do damage-- will it to migratory birds and other things? wondering if anybody wanted to get into the country, we have two seacoast. are you going to build a wall along both of those? when it comes down to it, candida is a soft border. do we build a wall there? where does it stop is what i mean. --ust think it is curious

people get hung up on the whole idea you are un-american if you do not support a wall along the mexican border. host: more comments from social media as we continue to ask what your top news story of 2018 has been. kathy writes in on facebook, the deplorable separation of children from parents. i will never get over the decision this president made. says, fires, floods, mudslides, and tornadoes. julia writes in, it is over 100 women taking over the house. one of those newly elected members of congress is alexandria acosta eo cortez. there -- alexandria acosta eo cortez -- alexandria ocasio cortez.

t is also the subject of part of a column in yesterday's new york times. it is by gina belafonte. the column in the new york times. she writes the year of unexpected morphing included when an unknown bartender became a shea guevera t-shirt. ortez rose from obscurity to defeat joseph crawley to represent the cities 14th14th -- the city's district. she is become a symbol of working-class grievance. on the right, she has become a lightning for those who fear and loathe a rising progressive energy. issue week on policy? does -- is she week on policy? does it matter? she is leading a movement. to will in cincinnati, ohio.

a democrat. caller: good morning. i want to start out by saying how much i love c-span. i watch c-span almost all the time. refreshing -- having said that, i want to mention that in response to what you talked about, the young congress lady who just won. making comments about would support she nancy pelosi. i hope she has come around. i applaud nancy pelosi's announcement she made in the house when she talked about what the democrats were going to do going into 2019. i have flooded her when she was on tv with chuck schumer. she stood up to trump on

national tv the other week. president, he was just using that as a distraction. response thaty in judge kavanaugh, i am a black man. i am a retired person. that criminal justice in this country has a lot of problems. i do not think that a person like judge kavanaugh -- going back to judge thomas, never changed my mind. when cavanaugh, -- i believed the lady again. he was arrogant. he demonstrated all the privilege in his testimony. everything about it was a bad look. bad for this country.

that was the top story in my estimation. democratse that the are going to9 remake the things that are going in this country right now. host: jacksonville, florida. an independent. caller: good morning and happy new year to you and all the viewers in washington journal. we are going back to what the lady said about seat -- about stephen hawking, the scientist. they think god is everywhere. infinite being like she is talking about the christian god. ephesians four versus eight. how can there be a heaven and a hell? how can there be a devil when god is everywhere? , when back to politics the president pulls all of the

afghanistan, iran, saudi arabia, syria, that is costing billions of dollars to take care of them. they are hated over there. put them on the border. they can protect the border. $6 billion? that is a lot less then the billions they have being wasted over there. happy new year to all the people. host: we will go to tampa. rob is a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the biggest issue for me for 2018 is the trump dossier. host: why is that, rob? why do you think it is the dossier? caller: because it is still

going on. they keep saying that mueller is finishing up. by what we know as gps. host: you just have to speak for your phone. viewers to turn down your television while you are waiting. just speak through your phone. it makes the conversation easier. william is in houston, texas. a democrat. caller: good morning, john. i am a military veteran. i would like to say this. to allolences go out victims of gun violence including the police officer that was killed by a nonresident person in california. understand, that is part of his job.

factor.e, it is a risk comparingke to say that one killing two the torican -- that one killing the american bread terrorists dashed -- american breed -- where is the sympathy and empathy coming from leadership when it comes down to white male terrorists killing our american citizens? have a wonderful new year. host: staying in texas, to montgomery, texas. dennis is a republican. caller: good morning. i would like to say i have a comment. is a 21 year veteran, i cannot praise our president enough to what he has done to the v.a. system. it has turned from night today.

i do not really use it myself, but i know a lot of people who do. they are outsourcing them onto the community instead of waiting for months to get help. they are getting it within a week. looking to the future of what is going to happen, as a republican, we have 20 people on the democrat side run for president, i cannot wait to hear these debates. on the other station, they never call them out how you are going to pay for this plan. now they are going to have to battle each other for the first time. as a citizen, i want to hear what they say instead of getting kid gloves on the other station. host: as you are listening to those debates, you think they will be -- do you think you will be convinced or are you open to being convinced on any of those topics? caller: i am looking forward to being convinced a little bit. to give you an example, if someone says medicare for all, how are you going to pay for

this? really, how are you going to pay for $32 trillion worth of stuff? how are you going to get that past through the senate -- get that passed through the senate? that is the kind of answer i am looking for. i am hoping other people who are running will question each other so we do not have all of these false theories. host: what about that concept of health care as a right in this country? d think that is something that you would be -- do you think that is something that you would be open to? caller: i would always be open to that. if you think back five or 10 years ago, this is what happened to our country. we are getting tax rates coming down. businesses are coming back. it is touchy ground. i think it needs to be fixed. the way they are talking about how they are going to pay for it , it will never happen in america. thank you for your time. host: that is dennis in texas. we are coming up on 9:30 in the

east coast on this traditional new year's eve program where we ask what your top new year's story is -- what your top story of the year is. we will be doing this for the next 30 minutes in the house is expected to come in for a brief pro forma session and we will come back after that to talk about the government shutdown so stick with us. we will be here until about 11:00 a.m. so plenty of time to get your calls in on neither the top news story of the year or the idea of the government shutdown. from maryland, independent, go ahead. caller: thank you for c-span. it's a wonderful program. i also want to say thank you to all the wonderful people out it seemsause sometimes

the older we get, the uglier the world becomes. you try to see the way things callers then you hear on your program that are wonderful human beings. there was a quotation i heard the other day from your program i think by dr. king. about youmething won't remember what your enemies said but you will remember the silence of your friends. for me, that rings loud. no matter how ugly many things and a lot ofd

views he has expressed, some people you really consider friends or whatever, it's like they will just ignore those thanks. i'm like how can you ignore that? i hear people on your program that stand up against that and i want to say that's a beautiful thing and the world is still a beautiful place and i wish everybody a half -- a happy and prosperous 2019. host: lorraine is in wisconsin, a democrat, good morning. caller: i wrote this down so i don't forget what i say. when i was young and i had my ear to the radio when franklin know delano roosevelt was president and died in his third term and he gave the people social security. now trump wants money to build a wall. he wants that money to build a benefitschop off any

americans get. social security, education, everything and medicare, , anything that helps the americans of the only reason he wants that wall is for his wallet. it's to prevent another bankruptcy, thank you. host: do you think we have a problem with border security in this country? are you concerned? we lost her. brooklyn park, maryland, a republican, good morning. caller: i wanted to talk a little about the iranian one. does the united states still and if weum to russia do, who is in charge of that?

i just heard about it but i'm not sure they have every followed up on that. uranium to anybody, why would it be russia anyway. news andp on the nobody has ever said any details about that and i think that's a large story. the president met with vladimir putin on the international front. what you think that will be remembered for? caller: he's just another leader among leaders. he is a leader and there are leaders and there are a lot of leaders in the world. he's just meeting with them all and trying to get the best deal from the united states is first on concerned. host: that's robert in maryland and this was the president in july at that summit with vladimir putin. >> nothing would be easier politically then refused to

engage but that would not accomplish anything. as president, i cannot make in aions on foreign policy futile effort to appease partisan critics or the media or democrats who want to do nothing but resist and obstruct. constructive dialogue between the united states and russia before the opportunity to open new pathways toward decent stability in our world. i would rather take a political risk in pursuit of peace than to risk peace in pursuit of politics. as president, i will always put what is best for america and what is best for the american people. during today's meeting, i addressed directly with president putin the issue of interference in our elections. i felt this was a message best delivered in person.

i spent a great deal of time talking about it. president putin may very well want to address it. and very strongly because he feels very strongly about it and he hasn't interesting idea. the president in july. the clips we have been playing, all of them are available to at the their entirety c-span archives on www.c-span.org. you can always join us there throughout the day as we continue to take you through the top news stories of 2018 post up another 25 minutes left in our program to do that. the house will be coming in at 10:00 a.m. for a brief pro forma session. the senate is also expected to have a pro forma session at tenneco game as well. the senate will meet wednesday as well this week. they will meet thursday at noon,

the 115th congress will be no more as the 116th congress gavels in. we will have full coverage on thursday with a five hour program expected that morning leading up to the opening of the new congress and we will have coverage of all the events at the opening of the 116th congress. johnny from boston, massachusetts, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. and a happy new year to you. i'm going to run through a couple of things if you don't mind. you can ask me questions if you want. as far as the comments about the i started voting just about -- i got involved with politics when kennedy was elected. i'm 73 years young.

we are latching on to the lying thing as if we are all naive that politicians lie. , some politicians lie with class and then we have donald trump who lies. his moral being is not 100% but who the hell's is. s? host: is it ok for a politician to lie? caller: absolutely not. one good thing about us americans is that we can look at politicians and we can tell just by facial expressions, who is real and who is fake. i'm going to put trump and i voted for him but i'm an independent. i was a democrat my whole life. , was a working-class guy

involved with the union, to care of my family. my dad worked in a factory his coming over when he first got here. when the democrats did what they week, iavanaugh, that went to city hall and i changed my affiliation to independent. i think what we all have to do, you and i, when you're walking down the street smile at someone and say hello, bring that kindness back to where it belongs. we are a good country and we are good people but we are getting angry and we are getting more angry by the day. you can ask me whatever you want along the way. host: i just wonder how much you blame politicians for americans getting angrier by the day and

how much do you blame the news media? where you point the finger? caller: that's a good question. naive if we think the media does not lean one way or another or they don't make words more -- what's the -- they exaggerate, they tried it's a media that looks at their ratings. we have to look the on that. i'm a blue-collar guy and sitting on the beach with my and i ask what they read. i tell my guys and they say be careful.

i said c-span is not far to the left. they try to be as even as they can and sometimes you can see that. 2 and wheel of fortune. what that does to me is it brings me back to not being as serious about things going on. i've got grandchildren and now great-grandchildren but i taught my children and i taught my granddaughtersmy who are in their 20's and 30's right now, be involved with the government. just be involved whatever little bit possible. it might be local. the involved because if you don't -- that's why we are in the position we are in now. people are not involved with their government. we've got to do that. c-span3 was not on your

whereut that's a place you can point some of your friends or children to. is a of our coverage there committee hearings and events in washington during the weekend on weekends. c-span3 then turns into american history tv on the weekend. youou haven't, i encourage to check that out as well and we appreciate you watching. , cleveland, ohio, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. the story of the year for me is the mueller investigation. think trump voters thatze how important it is about thet the truth conspiracy that was concocted by

to trump campaign and russia ensure he becomes the president. i have three questions i want to ask americans. who created the change in the sanctions language? it was in the republican platform. two, who changed out the platform itself? three, rudy giuliani trump wrote a letter for donald junior on air force one. point two theings conspiracy and i think

republican voters need to appear trumplves because donald is going to jail. jr. is play him but don andg and ivanka is going there are others already there. the entire republican party is complicit. this is scary. host: that's loretta in ohio this morning. fromowed you a bit president trump's high-profile meeting with vladimir putin in helsinki back in july. piers morgan that summit.

president trump was asked whether he believed his own intelligence services or president putin when it came to the issue of russian interference in the 2016 election. >> all i can do is ask the question. me, dan coats to came to me and some others and said they think it's russia. president pruden said it's not russia. -- present prudence and it's not russia and i don't see why it would be but i want to see the server. confidence in both parties. i really believe this will probably go on for a while but i don't think it can go on without finding out what happened to the server. what happened to the servers of the pakistani gentleman that worked on the dnc? where are those servers, they are missing? where are they? what happened to hillary clinton's in males, 33,000 emails gone, just gone. in russia, they would not be

gone so easily. i think it's a disgrace we cannot get hillary clinton's 33,000 emails. i have great confidence in my intelligence people but i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. minutes left0 before the house comes in for a brief session. we are discussing the top news stories of 2018. west haven, connecticut, republican, go ahead. caller: good morning. i would like to discuss or mention something i haven't heard in a long time. what are we doing about the opioid epidemic? is it on a back burner? let me put it to you this way, there is always going to be drugs flowing into this company. excuse me, into this country.

it's like a faucet. you will never, ever get rid of it and i would like to know your opinion about the opioid epidemic, thank you. us, youre still with said we will never be able to stop the flow of drugs. host: do you think a wall along the southern border would help? i think we lost mark. it's good to eddie from cincinnati, ohio, independent. good morning, i would like to know caller: what happens to all of this money that the is fining companies for. if the government did write with that money and put it into health care for everybody in the world, no -- not only in the united states but they are fining these companies a terrific amount of money.

i don't understand how this country is supposed to these so broke when we are paying a tremendous amount of taxes. if everybody paid the taxes like the working-class people do, this country would be in money and the president and the congress and nobody would have to be arguing over a wall. i don't care for a build a wall from here to heaven, they are still going to get drugs into this country. i am 81 years old and drugs have been coming in this country since i can remember. if there is a way to stop it and a wall is not the answer, if they want to build a wall, let all of the people that voted for donald trump and believes in him

100%, let them make a donation with him starting first and he can build his wall. ofshould be the engineer building it. thank you, have a good day. to iowa, tom is a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say how much i appreciate washington journal. my top story would be helsinki and meeting alone with putin. the republicans that went over there and i fear russian money is infiltrated the entire republican party. who knows how many billions or millions are supporting these republicans? that will not stand up for our country. thank you. that's tom and iowa. another tom is waiting in

newark, ohio, republican, good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i have a story for that nobody seems to be aware of and i watched it on c-span. it was the audit of the clinton foundation by two reputable cpas. they found massive violations. money was used for everything that the clintons wanted, personal travel, expenses and it's been turned over to the internal revenue. they wouldn't give the information to congress but they would give it to the internal revenue service. this is going to be coming up soon in 2019. the other thing i want to mention to the other callers is i was a former democrat for 30 years and i became a born-again republican in 2012. itifa thing is a clone of hitler's brownshirts. they intimidate anybody saying

anything against a democrat which is what hitler's did in germany. these people are trying to take this country over. it's like a big game of thrones to a democrat. all they want is power. thank you. lakeview,is in arkansas, independent, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you to you and c-span. the big story is the non-stories come everything we are not covering. the debt is ballooning out of control from the wars that were never paid for. the vietnam war, the war in the middle east. mueller who was not there to find anything. he is there to hide things. he is hiding the collusion that's already there from andary with her agent steel other agents. there is your collusion. noncoverage of the deep state.

the deep state will say one thing but mitch mcconnell passed that big old budget but he sure won't put the wall before the senate and make the democrats filibuster and prove what i don't want border security. want borderdon't security. put throughuldn't the original health care repeal bill and we ended up with a heros down from mccain the and we got more aca phony health more than is nothing a stranglehold on the insurance companies. nobody is increasing your health care or building more hospitals. they don't want any of that. it's a bunch of non-stories. host: the current u.s. national debt according to u.s. debt clock.org is $21 trillion. that comes out to about 62

$6,000 per u.s. citizen, about $178,000 per u.s. taxpayer. and deficits is certainly one of the issues that paul ryan talked about during his time as speaker. that time is drawing to an end. end today with a 115 congress and you can watch his farewell address from earlier this month. we will play that again today at 1:00 p.m. and you can watch that on c-span3 and listen to it on the free c-span radio app or on the web. also today on c-span, we will be showing a news conference by federal reserve chairman jerome powell at 2:30 p.m. you can watch that on the web at www.c-span.org and listen to it on the free c-span radio app. taking you back to paul ryan, one of the stories of 2018 is who will become speaker after he departs.

ine is the moment from back april of this year when paul ryan announced he would not be running for reelection. >> realized something when you take this job. it's a big job with a lot riding on you and you feel it but you also know this is a job that does not last forever. hold theze that you office for just a small part of our history. you better make the most of it. it's fleeting. and that inspires you to do big things. on that score, i think we have achieved a heck of a lot. we all know that i did not seek this job. i took it reluctantly. i have given this job everything i have. i have no regrets whatsoever for accepted the responsibility. this is been one of the two greatest honors of my life. the job provides incredible is, it'sties the truth

easy for it to take over everything in your life. and you cannot let that happen. there are other things in life that can be fleeting as well. namely, your time is a husband and a dad. which is the other great honor of my life. that's why today, i am announcing that this year will be my last one is a member of the house. to be clear come i am not resigning. i intend to serve my full term as elected but i will retire in january, leaving this majority in good hands with what i believe is a very bright future. host: a little over eight months later, democrats are preparing to take control of the house after a 40 seat pickup in the 2018 election. here's a column from the new york times --

lee from north carolina, democrat, what's your top news story of the year? the kavanaugh story is the biggest one for me. as a man of the legal cloth, he expected to be a higher caliber.

court and if i told a lie and get caught in a lie, i would be censured and put in jail. i would be find money. that's why i think our leadership should be of the caliber that you can look back on. i'm a retired military man with 22.5 years. a lot of times, you've got to these things and put yourself in that person's shoes. i read the third reich, i read and it scared me when our president was running for office. it scared me.

mussolini, hero he don't --hirohito and the other tyrants of that day got together and got themselves a world order. i was so afraid and i prayed that would not come to this. president,he became and if aontinuously young private got caught in a lie, he would either be discharged or censured. we have to think and we have to call the people accountable for what they are doing. this is my thought and i watch 3 and i thinknd

you're doing an outstanding job. james in las vegas, a republican, go ahead. caller: i'm a lifelong republican, take c-span advocate. and first-time caller. that last clip of paul ryan really tees up the biggest news it event of the year. after we had a chance to do just everything this your, the complicity of the gop and putting their party over country. ashamed ofr been so the leadership in our party. behavior ofn the donald trump from his past activities in new york. that thel gymnastics gop leadership is gone through behavior, immoral corrupt activities, his inability to tell the truth, i think that will be the legacy of the year. host: what makes you a republican today? caller: i'm holding on.

i've got hope for the party. i would rather fight from within. i want a party that's fiscally conservative, that stands for something and not ballooning a budget, that doesn't embrace our dictators. that's the challenge. house istunity for the on but the senate, there's still hope so hopefully we will have a wake-up call. int: before the house comes for a pro forma session, who is the hope of the republican party? golly, i would like to see lisa murkowski. there are a wide range of individuals. most of them have been silent. i think that's one of the most troubling aspects of the year.

sitting back and just watching all of this go on and not objecting. host: that's james in nevada. our last caller in this segment of "washington journal." stick around on the other side of this expected to be brief pro forma session in the house. we will take your calls on this day 10 of the government shutdown. for now, we take you to the floor of the house for the pro forma session. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]