but certainly there is a chance for impeachment, and the inquiry itself really wants to face full-size of the aisle to come defend these moderates or take it back. president trump won in 2016 by quite a large margin, where there is room to see that see go back to republicans. host: emily cochrane is a congressional reporter for the "new york ti, thanks for calling. several points made by that last caller. joining us now by skype is abby livingston, the washington bureau chief for "the texas tribune." we just heard from someone from texas, concerned about corruption, not necessarily for impeachment right now. talk about how texans are reacting to their lawmakers and their various stances on impeachment. what is going on in texas? guest: i think we are still trying to figure this out. the polling is still pretty unclear, but what it seems to be is that this is a very

gerrymandering state and folks in the republican district are happy that members oppose impeachment and democrats are happy their members are for it. i think the most interesting places to watch our north dallas and west houston. these are the two extremely competitive zones held by democrats, and they are part of that big wave of freshmen who came out in favor of an impeachment inquiry. neither member seems to be backing off of it, and they are comfortable where they are. host: we hear that there are a number of retiring texas house members. we will put their names on the screen, but several republican retirements. what is the impact going to be of all of those folks leaving the house representing texas? guest: well, i think it could go good and bad for the state. for someone who has watched this delegation a long time,

particularly on the republican side, this is an extremely powerful block within the .epublican conference many of these members in the house are leaving. ranking members who have been term limited running committees. so they don't want to go back to rank-and-file. the publican operatives will say, this is good to have fresh blood. on the flipside, one of the roles of politics in general is it is almost always easier for the opposition to take an open seat rather than ousting an incumbent. some of these retirements may further make these seats more vulnerable. host: we know that texas is a very big state and diverse, but what other issues are driving texans these days? anticipate in our primary, which is in march and in the pulsing in february, on the republican side, you can those guarantee that

primaries will be litigated on immigration on which candidate can take a harder line on it. i anticipate health care on the democratic side to see a major issue. in competitive primaries, trying to figure out which candidates are for medicare for all or a less liberal option and how that plays in these districts, where the democrats and republicans need to nominate a candidate who can win the general and how they maneuver the waters. host: how about texas as a whole? we regard texas as a red state. so much information coming in suggesting it is turning more and more blue. tell us about the future of the lone star state. guest: well, i will go back a little bit. all of this changed on election night 2016. i know for decades we have been talking about texas demographically moving toward the purple column, but everything changed in the numbers on election night 2016. this is all about donald trump, but where i see things headed is less about his major statewide

charismatic figure that can flip the state for the democrats, but i think it will be ground up. in part because of retirements, party building at the congressional and state legislative level, and that is where i think has kept us moving toward purple. host: abby livingston c-span, anight on discussion on how much the public trust science and how peopleal opinions affect voting science. >> those of us who study this stuff, it really has to do with identity. there's a lot of complicated jargon on this, but essentially if something is important for your identity, you don't want to change your mind. if something is not important for your identity, you will get

new data and you will think, sure, i guess i will go there or do this thing. but if it is relevant for your identity, you are very unwilling to change and you will think lots of collocated ways around trying to keep thinking what you wanted to think to maintain that piece of your identity. so generally, when people dislike multiple elements of science, it's not because they are more or less committed to science, it's because those elements of science together all conflict with different parts of their identity. so it is really about identity stop and not about rational thinking or capacity to understand or deal with science. own worktudies, and my in a creationist high school, these creation students did very well on ap science test. they knew all the right answers, they just thought they were wrong. on how political

opinions affect whether people believe science. monday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> for 40 years, see hit -- c-span has been providing america unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events from washington dc and around the country, so you can make up your own mind. created by cable in 1979, c-span is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. c-span, your unproved review of government. >> next, q&a with historian jeff

guinn talking about his book, the vagabonds. supreme court oral arguments concerning sexual orientation and hiring. ♪ susan: what is the story you tell in the book, the vagabonds? is how america morphed into a car culture in just about 20 years from everyone still in a