>> coming up live today at 2:00 p.m. eastern. democratic presidential candidate and former new york city mayor michael bloomberg will speak to voters in norfolk, virginia. this is his first campaign event since announcing his candidacy for president. see coverage of his rally live at 2::00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> on tuesday, president trump travels to sunrise, florida for a campaign rally. his first rally in the state since changing his official residence from new york to florida. we'll have live coverage starting at 7:00 eastern on c-span. journal"washington continues. host: this is elie mystal. he is a contributing editor to

"the nation" and the executive editor of "above the law." host: good morning. -- guest: good morning. host: tell us about what you do. the trumping about administration is pretty exciting because every day pre-march something illegal happens. host: and the above the law website? guest: the court will take a huge gun case -- they will take a case that really should be moot. that about a new york law restricted how you can travel with guns. new york changed the law after was challenged, but the court is thinking of taking it up really to throw a fastball at any kind of gun regulation. and i say again, people who are concerned about gun reform and

are not focused on the supreme court are just doing it all wrong because with this conservative court, no gun legislation will pass constitutional muster with these five conservatives. host: do you expect the other four to follow suit as far as opposition? guest: i think it will be a straight 5-4 decision with kavanaugh or alito riding the majority opinion. the politicshave picture -- new york, the former new york mayor getting into the race. what do you think? guest: i mean, are you serious? theposter child for unconstitutional harassment of black and brown bodies is asking black and brown democrats to elect him president? is he out of his mind? that is like the scorpion asking to becoming of the frogs. interesting,

pragmatic centrist policies, but absolutely no support in the black and brown communities for he has not done the work. he has not done the grassroots organizing. he thinks he will buy his way in and he has not answered for one of the most destructive policies toward the african-american and latino american communities. host: and you take that policy in light of everything he has done as american politician as well? guest: he does not have the record of promoting black and brown issues. he does have a great record on philanthropy and gun rights. he has been very strong on guns. nanny stateome policies which some people like in some people don't. i go back to the organizational aspect. how will you parachute in to the middle of this race having done none of the work these other candidates have an expect that's going to work out for you? this man was defending stop and frisk, not

just every day of his 13 years as mayor, even after it was ruled unconstitutional. that was as early as january of this year and now he comes out with an apology -- oh, i was wrong? if someone can tell is serious about their apology is if they make amends for that position. billion dollars. he can do something about the lives he destroyed. instead he is running for president. i think that tells you what you need to know about his commitment to reversing the wrongs of that. does it say to the rest of the field that he has decided to enter? guest: idol think it says anything about the rest of the field. i think it says something about the democratic donors. elizabeth warren, bernie sanders, they have the donor class shot. they are frightened. so they are passing around -- maybe it will be the mayor in south bend who has never held a

statewide office? may be a billionaire? may be deval patrick. he is black. you'll like him, won't you? they are passing around to be saved from the progressive wing of the party and it's really interesting -- they thought they had their candidate. joe budden. a has proved, as usual, to be relatively ineffective campaigner. .- joe biden this is a man, who the only time he can get past iowa is when he is on his way to disneyland. that is biden doing his thing. then there's kamala harris, i believe if kamala harris was a white male from california all this money and don't a glass people would have gone behind her. she has centrist policies. she appeals to multicultural, multiethnic demographic. she should be getting the centrist money, but she's a black woman and i think they have some issues, this particular group of donor class issues thrown

their full weight behind a black woman. i do not understand why kemal is is doing better --kamala not doing better with this particular group. mr. cancian: let's throw people -- host: leicester people into the conversation. the numbers --you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. , 202-748-8000, 202-748-8001 facebook,n post on twitter. our guest, elie mystal of "the nation." also contributing editor executive editor of above the law. what is you make that correlation about people not putting money towards kamala harris just because she is black? how do you come to that? guest: i see a completely centrist person with progressive

bona fides who, for some reason, is not being supported by the people who claim that's what they want -- as centrist, pragmatic people, who has experience will be ready on day one. i cannot explain your people throwing their hat into pete buttigieg it was an untested mayor of a town that is as big as my suburban community just outside of new york city. i have no idea how people are throwing their money and support behind buttigieg and not harris, unless you are talking about race and gender. like otherwise it does not add up. host: again, calls are lined up. let's start with florida. our is shelby on independent line. your first up. go ahead. yes.r: thank you for c-span, this thanksgiving week. ar, i believe you have hit very good point. there's an intersection, it

seems that is going on in our country right now, where we have this almost schizophrenic context that people want someone that looks or perhaps really makes them feel as if somehow they are supporting their point of life view. i agree with you that i can't understand where we are late in the game, having all of these money back candidates and mr. buttigieg is a nice young man as you stated, but the young man has no experience. they claim that president obama, former president obama, had no experience, but of course, he ,ad been a senator from chicago and south bend with the issues tohas there -- speaking that. but i want to speak about the context of where we are as a country. we are in an intersecting moment , the farm bureau

gentleman that was just him prior, i believe speaks to the heart of this matter because farming, whereas we no longer , and theur crop food gentleman that called in, the last call, the black farmer, -- the platform or association gentleman who spoke to the issue where we have a group of americans who have been voting against their own interests, and now that impact has come home to roost for all of us. this has to do with education where we have this invested in education. we have not supported the hbc you's which gave us an educated lacked populists and educated talented 10th. of which i include my -- myself and my husband and my young people, educated as a shins. host: we got your point,

thanks. i think shelby is right. we need a broad-based coalition. the way to defeat trump, if that is what you're going for, every buddies as the democrats are is tooncerned about that, build a broad-based coalition, not just of the democratic raise, which are mainly black women and black and brown citizens, right you go build a broad coalition of those people plus suburban people, less farmers who have understood they have been left out of the trump whatever policies. i think what you will have to look for is a candidate who can appeal to all of those constituencies. to me, there are progressive candidates who can do that. there are centrist candidates who can do that. there are conservative candidates who can do that.

having 52 billion dollars does not do any of that. money will not be what wins this presidential race. virginia -- host: virginia, robert. democrats line. caller: thank you. i am a democrat. i have concerns about bloomberg. he did apologize for stop and frisk. i do not know whether that was sincere. but he was also in charge for the surveillance program in new still has not apologized about that. i'm very interested and concerned about overall law the nation.across democrats all too often deferred to law enforcement on these issues. the best whene is it comes to some medical enforcement reform and is that the case -- is that the key to getting brown voters?

host: cory booker and julian castro have been amazing on this issue. if they read through their plans , they are really great, they really get to the heart of changing the way policing happens in this country. right now, if you are a democrat, the price of admission is we will legalize marijuana unless you are joe biden, still thinking about that. we will end private prisons. pay up.end cash that's the price of admission. that gets you in the door. i am talking about candidates who are talking about the force parameters for police, talking about reducing the power of prosecutors and police in this nation, looking at people who are looking at reforming the qualified community. when we are looking at people who get under the hood, i am looking at booker, castro, harris -- although she has other and bernie and

war -- well not is detail oriented, i think as booker or castro, certainly seem to have the overall sense of, like, the massive amount of change needs to happen to address the leasing in this country. the idea theret is a progressive push this time around in their concerns about that progressive push from some democrats? there is. the energy and the focus in the passion of the party is with the base on the left. that is just true, right gecko if you have more centrist and pragmatic policies, it does not mean that you can't be competitive or when this nomination. you have to show how you are you want to say pragmatic, but i don't think that's the right framing -- you have to show how you will help people like me, progressives with my concerns, who what massive, serious, structural

change. the breakdown in this election for the democratic side of the group of people who believe randoms an aberration, a comic into the middle and once we get rid of him we go back to normal versus people who understand trump is a symptom, that trump could not exist without systemic problems that need to be addressed. that once you take trouble way you still have the systemic problems in this -- trump a way you saw systemic problems in this country. that is what you say you say. people who want systemic change and people who want to go back to normal. host: alabama. you are on, go ahead. caller: hello. he talks about black and brown voters on here, but i'm doing some figuring out there, the blacks in the browns, they are

only 30% of the population, so i don't understand what they think everything they say is going to matter in our election. i don't believe that. and another point is, donald trump will be reelected again. i mean, the democrats have gone so far to the left there is no way possible for them to come back. there is eight people in my family only that never voted before that registered to vote in the 2016 election. people got tired. in therehy obama was to terms. when he got reelected the second time, everybody went and registered and they said, not happening no more. guest: was it because obama was black? no, because of his policies. hillary clinton would've been president if she would have got away from some of obama's policies. guest: like obamacare? caller: i think your first woman

president is going to be nikki haley. guest: would you vote for michael bloomberg or joe biden? caller: nope. guest: that becomes the point, right you echo there are people in this primary who think they are running, basically arguing they can to ms. bruce, who registered to vote because obama got elect did, right? that bruce guy is not voting for mike bloomberg. he's not voting for joe biden. he is going to vote for trump, right? the way to defeat bruce and alabama is not convincing bruce to come back to the fold. it is convincing other people in alabama, particularly black and brown people in alabama, of blackthere are a lot -- people do tend to live close to where they were formally enslaved. there were a lot of black people in sec country, right? the wafer to the bristles of the world is organizedck voters

and registered and we have to look at candidates who will do that as opposed to candidates who will spend dollars and blood and treasure trying to convince bruce. among the field of democratic candidates, you listed several. he was your favorite? as it stands now? bumperi have many stickers in my house. i tend to like the progressive policies. i tend to like the people who can build multiracial, multiethnic coalitions. i tend to like competency. to be's generally going hard for me to vote command because i think that one of the things that we have seen over the last few years is it seems women's time to lead. they are activated. they are organized. they are running in so many different fields, they are winning in so many different areas of our country like -- i am most likely going to vote for one of the women, but which one of the women? that is all up for grabs.

host: alabama. joining us with our guest, elie mystal of "the nation. and the website above the law. go ahead. caller: good morning. you are one of my favorites, elie. i am so glad i got on here. i watch you on george, i'm dave agoura. i love, love, love you. i want to say this. ,ust like the other alabamian and irom alabama also, would raise you 12, 15, 20 on my family members who registered to vote to get donald trump out of office. he is an abomination. and we have people that are still going along with this man that is a pathological liar.

he is doing everything against lawica and on the military of donald trump, you know what yet that we have got to wake up. and i'm good to speak to my young black people. do you know these judges that donald trump and mitch mcconnell is putting in office right now? that have a lifetime career on the bench? you all best wake up, black people. everybody's say, oh, joe has got all of the black roads -- no, he don't. no, he don't. . do not know what is wrong la and klobuchar. wake up, america. we will be stuck with this pathological liar in the white house. guest: i love gwyn. point.kes a good donald trump has already reformed the courts.

the circuit court judges, one fourth have been appointed by donald trump. these people have lifetime appointments. they are archconservative's, and any policy you think is important -- climate change, gun reform, women's rights, health care -- any policy you think is important will be stymied by these judges for the rest of our natural lives if trump is able to get a second term of packing the courts and i have not even talked about the supreme court stephen breyer is over 80, ginsburg is 86. if trump gets another appointment on the supreme court, we are done. what about picking someone because of their policies? is feelingow there like, there are people who are better at being trump versus people who are more progressive or more -- i think the best way

to beat donald trump is to inspire the base. those are one in the same. if you want to tell me that their candidates who are more appealing to moderates and that,ndents, i understand but you have to show me that those candidates who were appealing to moderates and independents can get the base motivated to walk through walls like obama had them motivated to walk through walls. people forget. when we talk about, for instance, white males in this country, the democrat has not won the white male vote in america since the 1964 per one happened to 19 624? the civil rights act. that's to me carter did not win white men michael dukakis did not win white men. whoever is next time will not win white men.

when you understand that, the only way to defeat that is to motivate the base of nonwhite women and men. the only way to do that is to motivate those people to the point where they are in a frenzy and they are willing. they are willing to stand in line and to the stuff it takes to get registered. they are willing to go through everything they have to go through and if you can tell me they are going to do that, we can talk about appealing to moderates. host: from wisconsin, we will hear from liz, republican line. there has been a of discussion about reparations in some of the past debates and i know i'm a person concerned about the deficit. how would you recommend people do reparations individually so we do not have to add to the federal budget for reparations and maybe bring people of color and others together in

understanding? guest: you are concerned about the deficit but you are a republican? caller: mhm. guest: all of trump's tax cuts that have exploded the deficit to unseen levels, you are not worried about that? caller: i am worried about the deficit because as a republican, that has been long-standing for many years. i'm not saying trump has honored that partisan republican platform. host: can i ask a question? his reparations something that you would go along with? caller: it is something i did. i was challenged by someone on a train when i was going out to see my son for basic training and we talked about what we were and we talked about reparations and such, and we looked at how well or not well the civil rights laws had influenced what was happening in america in terms of the quality and we came

up with the idea of individual reparations and we both decided we would start an act of that. i went and got two dollar bills and got two dollar bills in started approaching people of color and telling them my apologies for any way i consciously or not consciously added to any problems with differences between the classes of people both black and white, and i signed that and handed it over. and it made for a lot of interesting conversations. guest: ok. so, if we are going to do reparations correctly, it's going to be a lot more than two dollars and i think one of the ways that reparations are starting to gain steam is that we are starting to really study how to make reparations work. there is a bill in congress that keeps getting past, but mcconnell will not pass and trump will not sign, that is not

about the actual cash payment, it is about studying what is the best way to make it happen. maybe it is a cash payment, although i doubt it. don't give me two dollars on the street because that would be insulting to me. i won $50. -- i want $50. before we talk about the actual cash remissions, we need to talk about it direct payment is the way to do it, educational opportunities or whatever. i am happy to live in a world where reparations are taken seriously, they are no longer a joke or a thing that is for anor, i think that is amazing change that i didn't think was going to happen in my lifetime. but i think we still need to be in the study and planning phase to figure out how best to make this not just an apology, but a remittance for lost wages.

that is a long-term project. hopefully we are at the start of it. host: impeachment, how do you think it galvanizes the upcoming election? ? the first problem that you have is that trump clearly did what he was accused of. he clearly solicited a bribe ukraine, in exchange for an investigation of his political rivals. he admitted to it on a phone call. 9, 12 witnesses all of unmatched credibility testified to it during the public impeachment trial. ok, let's start there. apparently, the republicans are planning to not care about the fact that trump did this. i don't know how they can sleep with themselves, i don't know how they look in the mirror and understand what this country is about, understand what this president has done, and do nothing. that is on their souls.

but they are apparently willing to make that deal. as we go forward into the election cycle, two things will be at play. one, they will be democrats who promised me that if they are elected, they will pursue trump to the ends of the earth because you cannot get away with illegality that goes unaccountable. there are democrats who are going to promise me that. then there are going to be are going to say i'm not here to talk about the past. democrats trying to heal our wounds going forward by ignoring what happened in the prior administration. the country in general will have to make a choice about which way we want to go. you wrote a piece saying

on the republican side of the senate, there are four classes of republicans. how do you appeal to those in an effort to get them to vote against the president? guest: i still think that there is a way to cap the 20 year. here is the thing. there are 23 republicans who have to run for reelection in 2020. not all of them are going to vote for impeachment. lindsey graham is running for reelection. mitch mcconnell, and so on. 23, 10 of them are in states where trump's approval rating is already at or underwater. his approval rating keeps going down. if it keeps going down, it's going to be very hard for some of them to vote for trump and hang onto their jobs. they think they are voting for a quick trump as a life raft. if it starts to look like an anchor, you might slip. then there's another class who claim to have a conscience.

i tend to think that people like marco rubio are desperate hypocrites. they have shown themselves to be craven, we can hypocrites rep. trott: administration. but they claim to have a conscience and if they have any shred of dignity, any shred of confidence, they will see the obvious criminality that has been set forward by the public trials. give me a quartet of those. give me mitt romney. give me michael lee. towards 18,getting 19 senators. who is going to be the last senator? who is going to be the one to save trump? me -- pat toomey going to say no, i will be the one to save trump? to 20.et

it is hard and unlikely, i understand that. but i think for democrats to be defeatist about it or act like there is no chance, and the senate leadership to throw their hands up and act like the republicans cannot be given something, cannot be dealt with, i refuse to the that fatalistic about it because the crimes are so obvious. rita int's hear from new jersey, democrats line. caller: good morning. i'm a first time caller, i'm very nervous. guest: don't worry, i don't bite. all, i wantedof to address michael bloomberg. we are so happy he is in the race. we love michael bloomberg. we were hoping that michael bloomberg got in at the beginning, he didn't. never too late. my family is very conservative african-american family, and we

don't like any of the candidates currently running. joe biden in our opinion, what we love and respect is only going to serve one term if he wins. we want someone who can do the eight terms. as far as the comment you made frisk, i amnd personally offended by that as an african-american. bloombergll, michael is not responsible -- let me say this first. stop and frisk was not designed to target african-americans. it was targeted to fight against crime and gun violence in the city. and we definitely needed that in jersey. host: i will cause you there. the court said that it was targeted at

african-americans, that's white was ruled unconstitutional. i think that the caller makes a point that is worth making. there are a lot of older black democrats who supported some of these horrible policies of the past. joe biden, the author of the 1994 crime bill, that was supported by lots of african-americans. there is a generation of african-americans who are consistently worried about violence in their communities, consistently told that these kind of strong, broken windows would deal with crime in their communities, and so they supported those policies. but the statistics are in. those policies did not help. stop and frisk did not help reduce the crime rates. once you take away stop and frisk, the crime rate continues to go down. the stats on whether or not these crime levels, over aggressive policing policies actually works are in, and they did not.

some people will believe what they are going to believe, you can't convince everybody. in general, we have seen that these kinds of policies do significant damage to the african-american and latino communities, far more damage than they could possibly argue to make up for on the reduction in crimes. message that the the democratic field should be delivering to the independent who is currently not sure? guest: is this guy crazy? i think the main message when you get to a real independent voter is that trump puts people in cages, he is a lawless criminal. and if somehow you want to vote for that because maybe you will get a tax cut, you are just a bad person. host: george is in new jersey on our independent line. caller: good morning. glad to see freehold represented. abouted to ask the guest

the dangers of the opera see in our government -- theocracy in our government. currently, we have quite it it of representatives, senators, supreme court members who are members of christian evangel's -- evangelicals. they are the ends justify the means kind of approach to their actions. they choose to support the president regardless of what their religious prerogatives indicate. i'm wondering if you would agree with me that we are moving dangerously close to a deoxy in this country -- to a theocracy in this country and it serves us no benefit. certainly we have been a

theocracy at different points in our history. now more than ever, we seem to be dominated by radicals within the christian community and i'm wondering if you would agree that this is a dangerous trend. guest: i don't know that i agree we are moving toward theocracy any more quickly than usual. i think what has happened is that the hypocrisy of the community has been laid bare. they are not in it for the christianity, they are in it for the power and for the supremacy. i personally have always believed that, but now i don't have to wonder or argue that point anymore because the consistent hypocrisy of the religious right by putting this thrice married on religious, unspiritual man has been laid so

obvious. why they still support him is because he delivers policies they want. it is as simple as that. whatight evangelicals things, trump delivers those things. they want to suppress a gay rights and women's rights. trump delivers those suppressions. that is why they are in. that, you don't have to combat trump on being holier than thou, because clearly the right no longer cares about the map. you have to inspire other people, perhaps true questions -- true christians, people of faith all around, to rise up against these policies that we see daily from the white house. if you do that, you break the over what itight

means to be spiritual in this country. host: let's hear from another independent from west point, texas. caller: good morning, america, and thank you, c-span. full disclosure, i am a white guy and i live in texas, so that puts me on the outs with your guest, i don't belong in one of his favorite classes, brown or black. i thought this was going to be about the law and i was sorry i misinterpreted that. i didn't know it was going to be a sermon on how to get rid of president trump. at any rate, let me ask your guest one thing. you are talking about the stop you have the percentage of decrease in crime while this was in effect? when: crime decreased more it was not in effect and even if it did work, it was unconstitutional, so we need to find a constitutional way to decrease crime. well..

host: do you have a follow-up? caller: no, i just was curious about that. thank you so much for having this open to people like myself who can call in and express our opinions even though they differ from your guest most of the time. whenh i could have got in you were talking to the farmer guy because being a rancher in texas, we face a lot of problems with the hogs, i don't know what the government was ever going to do. apologize, i have to cut you short because this is the last segment. guest: it is interesting how victimized the white male can feel in this country. we are talking out a government dominated by white people up and down. the executive white man, the congress run by the white people. the supreme court and all of her circuits. the police. all these aspects and

institutions of control run by white people. feels likey in texas this guy doesn't like me. what is that? one of the things that trump has played perfectly is the sense of self victimization. by a certain group of white males in this country. he has played that perfectly. post: one more call, ricky in michigan. caller: hello, how are you doing this morning? , wanted to talk to you about you know, i've been watching trump ever since he has been listeningd i've been to people, i have friends that voted for trump. , they lookey've done at the computer, the believe everything that was put out about hillary clinton, and these

people look at this stuff and they know it is fake, and they still believe it. i can't believe the republican party. the republican party has been hijacked by putin. the oneted to say that who took over our election. host: thank you. mark zuckerberg is having secret meetings with the trump people. i social media companies seem to be in the tank if not directly for trump and republicans, and certainly for the kinds of fake stories that embolden and empower trump. that is a huge problem. hopefully, the democrats will get elected, regulate these companies like a public utility that they are, and we will start to see some changes. host: because you follow the supreme court, your thoughts on chief justice john roberts being

part of the impeachment process? guest: that will be interesting. john roberts is a republican through and through, but he is a republican who cares about institutions. john roberts wants to bend the law as far toward the republican goals as possible without the lawbreaking. which makes him different than the other conservatives who don't care about the lawbreaking. i do not think that john roberts wants to go down as the guy who let trump off the hook, nor does he want to go down at the guy who put the knife in trump's back. he will go straight up the middle, follow the rules as defined by the senate, and follow that closely. if trump people try to pull some shenanigans, even after they set the rules, i don't think he would let them get away with it. i think he will be a beautiful public servant and the upcoming impeachment. a contributing writer, you can find his work online. he is also the executive editor of the above the law w