richter discuss politics and u.s. foreign policy. after that, trump 2020 ca mpaign's marc ♪ good morning. democrats on the house judiciary committee holding a locked session yesterday in advance of tomorrow's impeachment hearing. the ranking republican on that committee calling for a postponement, insisting democrats are not giving the gop and president trump what he calls basic fairness, setting the stage for tomorrow morning. it is sunday, december 8. starting point. we want to hear from you this sunday morning. phone lines are open for republicans, (202) 748-8001. for democrats, (202) 748-8000

and if you are an independent, (202) 748-8002. we are also on social media. send us a text message at (202) at c-span wj,eet and we are on facebook. first, it an investigation into the deadly shooting in pensacola . the headline has brought details from "the washington post," fbi officials broadening their probe amid reports that several of the gunmen's saudi compatriots took video footage is the attack was underway. meanwhile, the names of the victims have been released. -- family member of watson,of joshua caleb the officer on watch at the

time, his family says that he saved countless lives today with .is own and died a hero "we are beyond proud but there is a hole in our hearts that can never be filled." this from "the wall street journal," "the testing continues in north korea. they are reporting that pyongyang continues to spread -- expressing displeasure over the stalled nuclear talks with washington. the house judiciary committee issued its report over the weekend. him it is just over 50 pages with more details on how the hearing on full tomorrow. this is what the report looks like. we will have live coverage a.m.ng underway at 9 through time tomorrow on the free c-span radio app, online at

c-span.org, and c-span radio. we want to get your calls and comments on the report, but first we want to share an interview for mauve the weekend where mike pence was asked about impeachment and his own indications with presiden zelensky of ukraine. let's watch. [video clip] >> will the president be impeached? >> i don't yet know what will happen in the house. i know speaker pelosi has submitted articles of impeachment. i have to tell you, i don't think it is a foregone conclusion that democrats will be able to get the votes to pass articles of impeachment. i hear from people all over the country. the support for this president, the progress we have made rebuilding the military, reviving the economy. seven million jobs created as of yesterday. 180 conservatives on the federal courts.

when people look at the facts of the case, they can read the and see the president did nothing wrong and i know the american people will let their voice be heard over the next two weeks. when the voice of the american people strikes capitol hill, anything is possible. like a president, i travel across the country and literally everywhere i go i hear americans telling me that they couldn't be more proud of the progress this president has made, where you have a stronger, more prosperous america. the economy is booming. this president has kept more theises then he made to american people. all they see the democrats doing , not just in this congress, but for the last three years is endless investigations and a all in anmpeachment, effort to overturn the results of the 2016 election. it's really ironic that speaker pelosi says they are defending

democracy. what they are trying to do is overturn the results of our democratically elected president , won a the election landslide in the electoral college, and i think the american people see through it. the democrats are beating up on this president because they know they cannot meet him in 2020. >> they have as much as set it. but the impeachment report says you have either been "knowledgeable of or an active participant" in what they say was this illicit plan to extort the you came president -- . raine president what is your response to that? >> presiden zelensky has said as recently of the last week that there is no pressure per placed on ukraine.

witnesses to testify before the democratic committee actually testifying that the subject of investigations never came up either before, during, or after my meeting. we did talk about was what president trump asked me to ask about. i generally don't talk about what the president and i discuss , but he gave me a authority to do that now. already scheduled a meeting with presiden zelensky when he asked me to go to poland . he sat me down and said "look, we are reviewing this aid. i want to know what he is doing about corruption." he was elected in a landslide on an anticorruption agenda. host: a couple of tweets coming in already. this is from lisa --

host: that is based on this headline from inside of "the new york times," impeachment prep and cold pizza. reporting on the release of the house judiciary committee -- report, here are some of the details from "the new york times or come

that this morning from "the new york times." let's get to your phone calls in your reactions to the events as they unfolded this week. david, oregon, republican line. thank you for waiting. caller: good morning, steve. it's been probably 20 years since i've spoken here to you. it's nice to see that you are still on c-span. can i make a couple of small

comments before i tell you exactly how i think the impeachment is going to go? certainly, yes. please, go ahead. caller: well, i thought i knew what was going on. theded up getting into romero institute where daniel , spelled withehan e's, had an online course. get deepo wants to into our history, partisan both ways, it was a phenomenal course. i felt like i was kind of frustrated. i thought i knew a lot about what was going on until i took this course. you didn't have to register or anything. now, this is my take on the impeachment.

i think that the impeachment is not going to happen. i don't think they are going to even take a vote for the 20 election. they are using this time to make an effort to educate the public. ways when it comes to trump. he has made some comments when that perhapsgning he would follow through. well, he really hasn't signed anything at -- yet. republican, and tax cut was obscene. it squeezes the people that really have to make hard for a living, the vast middle class that is strained very much. me jump in.

if you were a member of the house of representatives, would you vote to impeach the president? >> not at this time. i would wait and see what he actually does for the average american. but thelled right now, club itself, he's expose it. the call,ks for david. i'm be a stranger, don't wait another 20 years to colin. -- call in. caller: you know, it's tough to get in. i'm talking to you on my internet line. if i don't bio and you announce the numbers, [laughter] host: well, the secret is out. david, thanks for the call. here are some of the details about how the hearing may unfold. nadler, ranking

republican collins, with opening statements. followed by councils for the committees. they will then present findings from the respective reports here amid -- reports. there will be a 45 minute round of questioning for the democrats, followed by 45 minutes from the republicans. and each member gets five minutes in a round of questioning. eric is joining us from seattle, washington. independent line. good morning. caller: thank you. one of the main points that they can't that that trump tries to trump- many points that tries to make is about the good economy. it's like an abusive relationship. his performance in office and

the economy goes hand-in-hand in hand. why would we have someone in office who is talking about races, remember, he's a coward overseas. you try to come -- cut me off because i mentioned something about trump. he talks about people all the time, the same words that he uses to discriminate against people. trump needs to be impeached and when he is impeached, democrats need to hold onto those articles of impeachment. don't pass it to the senate until it is a politically advantageous time. he's going to shut down the government. that's the reason the calendar you show has nothing on it. the only thing republicans are shut down the government like a petulant child, like he is and his

conduct in office. he needs to be removed. the democrats are not going to demotivate the base or trump will win again. you aree calendar referring to, december 20, when the consumer resolution -- continuing resolution expires. congress needs to pass a budget or another cr. in a meeting with jake cap, speaker pelosi did not think a shutdown was likely. also on december 20 is the likely vote on articles of impeachment. you are right, a lot is coming up in the next couple of weeks. robert, fayetteville, pennsylvania. good morning. good morning. how do i follow that? in a registered democrat pennsylvania. i happen to be one of the many that voted for donald trump three years ago.

i will vote for him again. i don't want him impeached. this is an embarrassment on the democratic party and everyone who has ever been a democrat. what i heard you say earlier is also an embarrassment on this country when you said that there arabiaficers from saudi taking pictures with their someone was-- when shooting up our air base. they should all be deported immediately back to saudi arabia. if they can't come here and act like human beings, deport them all. host: a report from "the washington post, about the shooting that resulted in the -- post," about the shooting that , one ad in three deaths

naval academy graduate, the young airmen. yesterday a service at the chapel in pensacola, florida, interviewing those that were lost. place shooting that took in pearl harbor this past week. three days, two shootings, to separate navy bases. back to your phone calls, joining us from reading, pennsylvania. >> good morning, steve. you're the only conventional cable channel i even trust to watch anymore. every time i listen to all those other networks, let's be honest, america. the democrat to callers ago said it himself. we all know what this is. it is political.

it's only political. can't -- you know you can't beat the man, he's already beat 18 competitors. all of your people together you couldn't get them to be trump. is a smokescreen, ok? andave two investigations 140000 and i can's. a lot of you people before this is over are going to get arrested. son, talk about pelosi's biden's son, romney's son. and the dogs hind leg senator from nevada who was working with who werese and his son working with the chinese are project. it's all going down. it's all timed.

let's play games with the american people. let's wait and stretch it out as long as we can. hopefully there will be some divine intervention. you know, i think there is, actually. trump is going to win again and this time it will be bigger than ever. god bless america. these are exciting times. host: thank you for the call from reading, pennsylvania. the house judiciary committee releasing its report. it reads in part "the framers worst nightmare is what we are .acing in this very moment president trump corrupted our election for personal gain and the constitution details on the one remedy, impeachment. the host: let's go to walter, joining us from indianapolis.

democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. i was just wanting to voice an opinion. agenda is to spend everything. spin everything. he was caught not only last time, but this time cheating in the election. do believe in some republican policies, can't keep giving free stuff away, they are getting that right. however, they are not for the middle class or minority of this so toy, the engine, speak. trump will go down this time. there will be an impeachment. but not because of jealousy or win lastr we didn't time, but because of our constitution.

when i talked to my other fellow anders -- i'm a brick layer they are trump supporters, my one question is -- why would you want a person who doesn't know our constitution? this united states of america is united because of the constitution. a businessman cannot run our country as a business because we are not a business. we are a constitution or an institution. we are together. we win by working together. we don't win by separation. trump has delighted our country to the maximum. i am working with the division every day.

i believe that our constitution .s most important besides money. besides health care. besides all. all is tougher in our constitution from the founders. mylan -- is from host: send us a tweet. is joining us from vernon, minnesota, good morning. quicklyi wanted to state that i am totally in opposition of the impeachment. the impeachment process in my according to the constitutional guidelines has been violated. to the former person speaking and, all due respect, i

want to comment also. i am an enrolled member of the lake superior chippewa tribe. i'm a senior citizen and i find that perhaps the gentleman before wasn't well informed on how president trump's budgetary whole helphis towards the native american is very strong. some may disagree and i understand, but just most recently president trump had undered a committee william barr to begin to look into native american issues surrounding disappearance of native women. to -- becauseant there are so many issues that have arisen under president

ongoing opposition to whatever he has done. -- i myself would like to see a collective who -- on an on versus policy violations are things like that. thanks for the call. audrey with this -- lonnie, joining us from fayetteville, north carolina. good morning, lonnie. issues there are so many

that have arisen under president through ongoing opposition to whatever he has done. thank you for the call. good morning, tony. tony? caller: can you hear me? host: yes, sir, good morning. caller: high. for me the first article of impeachment should be what he has done to the epa regulations allowing more poisons to be put in our air, water, and food supply, thus affecting the health of all americans and he wants to worry about flushing toilets? host: roberta, utah, good morning. caller: the morning. i want to say that the

impeachment should go through. mr. trump has committed so many crimes and broken the rules so many times. he doesn't deserve to be president of the united states. the most despicable thing that he did was separate these children and lock them in cages on the border. in filthy conditions. call,thank you for the roberta. brian is next, georgia, independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. first, let me say this, trump is not fit to be president and never was. secondly, i find the republican party to be wholly un-american and unpatriotic. wouldis no way that they accept this behavior from the previous president or any other previous president.

first, trump has no policies. he knows nothing about politics. it's just a real shame that you have so many average americans that want to just go down with the ship, don't know anything about the constitution. it's just sad. i find it to be really sad. host: thank you for the call. based on the reporting, expect tomorrow's hearing to look more like a trial. preparations this weekend with the committee releasing a report yesterday in a mock session held by house democrats and house members reporting to the house judiciary committee yesterday in advance of the hearing. as we said at the top of the program, c-span will be your primary source for the hearing on all of our platforms, including the web. this from "the washington times ," as the republicans but forward a resolution to block

candidates are president in a senate impeachment trial. .ere are some of the details "congressional republicans want to require senate democrats running for president to recruit -- to recuse themselves from the possible trial against president trump. host: that from jason smith in .issouri, who is pushing this saying -- annette, joining us from

alexander city, alabama. caller: good morning. i'm a c-span junkie and i always wait for you, you are fair and letting people speak. i am for sure against this impeachment. for the main reason the democrats have no credibility. from day one it was their main agenda. impeach 45, they hate trump. mainly because he beat hillary. so, they declared war on him. they couldn't even call him president. they call him 45. it's just a juvenile reaction. a good example is the whistleblower lawyer who is on record saying from the first day that trump was elected that the -- that we are going to resist and follow up with impeachment. you know, i just want to say please, these democrats that call in and say that they don't wee republicans because

don't go by their choice, i want to let them know, this is still america. if you want to vote, vote for her you want, i vote for who i want. it's freedom of choice. trump is the only one who will actually bring up things like homelessness, drug addiction and they blow it off. talks about it. as far as children in cages at the border, those are obama cages. he did the same thing. we got to do something about what's going on with illegal immigration and stop whining about certain things they don't like. fix them. impeachment is a joke. please, as far as diverse city? democrats divided our country from day one out of hate. usy mock republicans, call names, racists, bigots, everything imaginable. they are the ones dividing our country. we need to come together for the sake of this great country.

so much. i love c-span. i watch you every morning. we appreciate that. thanks for calling. this headline from "the washington post." "republicans on impeachment has vulnerable democrats jittery." the committee gets underway tomorrow. we will pool the coverage that ,ou see on all the networks they will be coming from c-span cameras on all the networks. we will hear from jerry nadler and doug collins. be sure to check out our free recent -- free c-span radio app or find us on the web at c-span.org. the president leaving for fort lauderdale, florida, yesterday, heading to a reelection event. he spoke on the south lawn. [video clip] him, but not spoken to

he has a lot of good information. rudy has been one of the great crime fighters the last 50 years. he did get back from europe just recently. he has not told me what he has found, but i think he wants to go before congress. i hear he has found plenty. president was the speaking to reporters about rudy giuliani, who is by the way working for a documentary for one american news claiming that 2016ne was involved in the election meddling. that is expected to come up right around the impeachment of president trump and is the house moves forward with an impeachment vote likely later this month. back to your phone calls, bob is joining us from texas. republican line, good morning. caller: good morning.

i hope it's a wonderful day, today, i'm going to record the d'etatus -- coup circus. the inspector general's report, i want to see if it's watered down or whatever. this should be true facts coming out. from what i have investigated stations,n individual we got a serious problem in this country. if his report comes out water down, then i give up. this country has gone to the dogs. i would like to see these people be held responsible for what they did. like the cover it up democratic socialist party is doing now, they can cover up some of it, but some of it is still going to come out and when

it does, we are going to see just how bad this country has been took for granted. in thelly over there ukraine. to me that was nothing more than politicians to go over there and get a handful and come back. that's how they get rich. golf have a great day and listen, hope that the troop -- the truth will come out. thank you. for the call.u back to "the new york times," the release of the house judiciary report from the democratic members of the committee, there is this.

host: those details from "the near times." jeffrey, auburn, good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to argue for morality, logic, and reason. my argument is that -- where is the moral voice of a barry goldwater? to counsel someone like donald trump that to do the best for

the party would be to resign. save the honor of the republican party. i think that a lot of your viewers from the south, they are southern baptists. their persecution of catholics , whereuth of the border the majority of mexicans, guatemalans, nicaraguans, and salvadoreans, are catholics, they have an anti-spanish hispanic bias and it shows. is hasty generalizations, ad hoc and ad hominem attacks of insulting people's character rather than sticking to the facts. their logic is full of fallacies. host: thank you for the call from auburn, new york.

c-span 2020 coverage continues today, in new hampshire with joe biden. john kerry joining him again hampshire.ashua, new you can watch the event with the former secretary of state and at 11:15 eastern time here on c-span. later this afternoon we are in iowa with senator bernie sanders speaking to college students in indianola. that gets underway at about 1:00 eastern time. it's all part of our campaign 2020 coverage. we covered many of the democrats yesterday in cedar rapids, iowa, we were with pete the judge on friday afternoon. fred in jessup, maryland, republican line. is going out to all of the delusional democrats and independents. i remember the beginning before nancy pelosi and most of the lib media saying donald trump will be president -- never be president, going to

move out of the country. everything backfired. donna brazil handed hillary clinton those debate questions two weeks before the debate. this has been so unfair. host: that was the primary, not the general election. you are right, but it was about -- it was during the primary debates. that's right. it's so on 4, 24 democrats to 17 votes on this. all the votes go on the democratic side. it's so one-sided. the four witnesses were all live but professors, except jonathan turley, who is a liberal buddies in the middle of the road. the democrats have been on the sore loser campaign where they cannot accept the facts. in the past they have abused their power in going after the president, using the fbi to go after conservatives.

the irs, the epa, you name it. to the president's fault, i believe he tried to work and peoplee old -- keep the from the obama administration within, not getting rid of them, but he's going to have to start over because it has been unfair since the beginning. host: the republicans did choose jonathan turley as an fyi, they had the chance to select who they wanted to. caller: he was fair-minded and play by the rules. the republicans have got to get me like the democrats and start playing hardball. host: going to leo in webster, massachusetts. good morning. i'm a lifelong jfk democrat. i think people in this country have to wake up and realize it's time for term limits. ifse people are not doing --

they are not working for us. they are working to keep their power. , making 100in $70,000 or so, they come out millionaires with their own retirement and health insurance. they want us to do medicare for all. are they going to do medicare for all or keep what they currently have? it's time for the people of this country to wake up, realize that they are not doing your work. they are doing work for themselves to enrich themselves. i think of the national ballot we should have term limits as something to vote on. thank you very much. host: thank you for the call. michigan in calabash, good morning. caller: thank you. democrats beating up trumps since the election?

this is the fact that going to state right now, not emotions. a fire get carried away with my emotions, i'm only going to tank up. on foxhaffetz admitted news that the gop had three different approaches to bring about impeachment proceedings against hillary clinton, fearing she was going to be elected. let's think about that when we talk about "us" wanting to get rid of trump. there is a reason we want to get rid of trump. it's corruption. but when you say that we are after him since the election, think about what chef it's -- chaffetz said on fox news. host: the you for the call. this from "the washington journal," more testing from north korea. some details from timothy martin, "they have conducted a

test at a site they had claimed was being dismantled and are working on different posture in disarmament negotiations, threatening that the regime would take a new path of nothing ." nged the report yesterday outlining the path forward. juan, chicago, democratic line, good morning. caller: how are you, sir? host: fine, thank you. caller: i need donald trump to be impeached as i don't think he's really doing nothing good for the country. florida, republican line, your view on all of this? caller: i can't believe that democrats are walking in the street right now when they try to commit treason in this country.

we have got all the proof they want that they did it. they weaponize the fbi, the cia. they are treasonous people. they shouldn't be walking the street free. how do you get away with that? i don't understand it at all. thank you. caller: read, good morning from union, washington. with whattally agree the last caller has said, it's the democratsat have done. you know what will solve the partisanship? getting back to the constitution. we need 20 million people to show up in d.c. and surround the capital like your immune system surrounds an anti-body with tents, coolers, chairs, american flags, ropes and torches in the back pockets just in case and stay there until constitutional amendments are put in place,

starting with campaign finance. count on the legislators who are so corrupt in this country to correct it. you have to swarm the capital and demand peacefully. thank you for the call. the front page of "the more on theost," shooting in pensacola, labeled as an act of terrorism by congressional officials even as investigators continue to explore why a saudi military student last visit -- blasted his way through the courtroom that morning -- classroom that morning. it was confirmed that he was a second lieutenant in the saudi air force. inside of "the washington post," details on our long-standing relationship with the saudi's and others who come to this country to train with the army, the navy, and the marine corps.

even get that online at -- t.com.gtonpos lou, good morning. a president who asked russia to interfere in the election and he said it right on national television. this is what democrats have tried to impeach him from day one. number two, no caller has ever told wife trump slowed down the payment ukraine. it's very important to understand that. the only reason he came through with the money is because he was caught by the whistleblower. but he would have withheld that money for a long time. thank you. bristol, connecticut, john, good morning. it's a shame the trump

sees what's going on with this country, believes the intelligence, mick mulvaney saying it was a quid pro quo. the republicans and the russians , like it mick mulvaney said, you has got caught, and of subject. trump has pompeo, mick mulvaney testifying edit could all come to an end. but there is no end because it happened. thank you very much. you are next from montgomery, alabama. good morning. caller: hey, good morning. i think that the impeachment is , for trumpople said got elected, elections have consequences. those people are put there to make choices. if you are mad about the choice, don't vote for the people. as far as trump and his

behavior, it's summed up in what the trump ovation was and what trump university was, it's a fraud. giuliani running interference on ukraine, doing anything to get dirt on the bidens and he said as much in the call with residents a landscape. you can say it doesn't matter and say it is not teachable, but you can't refute that that is what happened and we all know it. jason, thank you for the call from alabama. to our listeners on c-span radio, we are taking the path forward for tomorrow's impeachment hearing. this is what the schedule will look like. the gavel comes down at nine a.m. eastern time and the chairman is jerry nadler. the ranking republican's doug collins and they will each deliver opening statements followed by the house judiciary committee counsel presenting opening arguments for an hour, dividing 30 minutes for each side. the house intelligence committee councils will present their

findings from their respective reports. they will then have a 45 minute round of questioning that will be followed by congressman collins and his republican counsel for another 45 minutes and there are 41 members of the judiciary committee. each member will then get five minutes, a round of questioning based on the reporting of -- questioning. based on the reporting from "the new york times," it will look like a trial of sorts. mary elizabeth, good morning. morning.ood happy holidays to all. this impeachment inquiry needs to go forth. because the 2016 election was performed with russian interference and, according to , thets and my intelligence president was about getting some additional help from a foreign entity. he talks about ukraine, but in

the primary actor there? the russians. it's possible that the russians are interfering in our election again. so, we need to examine it. he's the president of all of us. it is my analysis that all of this stuff is to remove the sanctions from russia. host: thank you for the call. the title of the book is called "the ambassadors," america's diplomats on the front lines. paul richter will be joining us at the top of the hour, along with his wife and partner at "the washington post," karen tumulty. diane is next from michigan, good sunday morning. i want torst of all, compliment you.

you are the nicest person, ok? i wish you and your family a very merry christmas. to your family as well. i have my 10-year-old daughter here today helping out. there you go. caller: god bless her. [laughter] well, she's got a good daddy, i will tell you that. host: and a good mommy. caller: [laughter] i have been listening for months and months and months, that's the reason i'm calling. i have never in my life, i'm a senior citizen, 72 years of age, i'm a baby boomer, ok? i never seen so much hate and on them -- hate and animosity that democrats have against president trump and his family, ok? they do not get the correct information. they are probably listening to cnn and msnbc, ok? trump doesn't even take a salary. he donates it to charity all right and everything?

think -- i wish the democrats would name one thing that he has done right. hard, sevenorks days a week, you know, 12 hours a day. host: what has he do? caller: he works for a factory in roseville, message -- michigan. he works very, very hard all right, and everything. we are doing much better. we got a home, thank god. we got a newer car, thank god. thanks to trump. not obama. when obama was president, close up the shops. they took them over to other countries, you know? my husband is one of the 99 her's. 99ers. -- so is my daughter.

we had to pay bankruptcy, we lost our home, you know and everything, and had to reestablish ourselves. the only other thing i want to say is that, you know, i hope the democrats realize that if they pick a democrat, study your history. ok? and that. they are headed towards communism. i don't want to have communism. my grandparents told me about it. the hard times. they came from a small little town in poland called pomerania. they made it here legally and everything. but i don't think they realize that about communism. the only thing is is i just don't like it that they have to call him every name under the book. how president trump can tolerate it, ok, being called everything? is wrong. host: thank you for the call,

good luck to you and your husband, have a nice holiday. caller: hey, youtube, ok? -- you too, ok? host: bye-bye. reportto -- 53 page coming out yesterday, we have more on your calls from paula inman is -- from paul in minnesota. welcome to the conversation. good morning. i think this is just a media driven impeachment. the media is corporations that control 95% of the media, they have taken control of the democratic party and they are both anti-american. this is just a cover-up. look at the success trump has had with the economy. these people are just hiding that. the media won't report it. it has become very anti-american, the media and the

democrats. trump is just standing up for america. the whole thing is ridiculous. it seems obvious to me, but apparently not everyone. thanks for letting me say those things. for the call.u we're live in a half-hour with joe biden in nashua, new hampshire, and later this afternoon with senator bernie sanders. karen is joining us from shelburne, vermont, independent line, good morning. caller: high, good morning, thank you for taking my call. an awful lotoing of research. i watched every single minute of , of thestigation information inquiry, i should say. also been doing a lot sides, research on both every side, just trying to get to the middle to understand some of the truth. , am just absolutely shocked although i do feel that president trump and a lot of his

associates are corrupt. into brighton beach being one of them, in the southern district in new york. i think we have all heard about that. i would invite our listeners to go back and do a little bit more back research. he is super connected to the russians. headil of rich is like the most powerful mobster in the world. i'm sorry, i'm like nervous .ecause i'm so shocked that we are so divided, first of all. to hear the caller talk about going to storm the bar -- white house with ropes and torches? really? is this what it's coming to? you for the call. jacqueline's next from troy, alabama.

we lost her. let's go to market joining us from minneapolis. good morning, mark. caller: thanks for taking my call. host: you are the last one, go ahead. caller: thanks for taking my call. i want to say that i think that the impeachment process is probably justified under the circumstances, but it also makes sense to take all the information, getting some testimony from white house officials directly, and also finding out more about some of the documents that they have been withholding. and also getting some resolution on his tax returns. all of that information would probably be relevant and make the process more balanced. for the call.u this is the headline at politico.com, house dems refresh the nixon era impeachment report for president trump. joining us on the phone is anita kumar. who covers the white house for

politico. walk us through what you expect from the white house and house democrats as the impeachment hearing gets underway tomorrow. morning.gh, good when they put out the announcement about the meeting, they kind of gave us a little bit of a hint, here. they announced which lawyers would be there for the intelligence and judiciary committee. i take that to mean these people from the judiciary committee are going to be there because they will be talking about the mueller report. we weren't actually that sure about that. i think we are going to be they havee evidence against the president both on ukraine and on the russia investigation. they are going to have the as well andepresent they will be disputing that, but i feel like i think they are going to have enough to possibly vote in a committee later this about the white house. we are not expecting much from

the white house. more rapid response from the trump campaign and the white house that no one really president and will not be presenting any evidence. they will be watching from outside. you have been with the president a lot, including that 36 hour trip to afghanistan as the president visited with the -- in on afghanistan afghanistan over thanksgiving. what's his overall demeanor has the process unfolds? a great question. i think it changes a lot. people that we talked to at politico, close to him inside and outside the white house, they think he's paying attention to what's going on. as there is good news or something that happens, he's quite happy about it. but there are times when he has been frustrated. overall, though, process, he's

mindful that there will be good days and bad days and he is kind of waiting it out until the senate trial. at the white house they have already started preparing for that trial, which we think will be in january. they have met with senators, talking about what they want as witnesses and they are just kind of waiting for the peace from the house to go. they feel like they know what's going to happen. it's going to be a partyline vote to move this forward to the senate. that it is all about what is going to happen next year. and: can house republicans the white house claimed the process is not fair when the white house refuses to send people to the hearing? host: well, you -- guest: well, you will hear both sides of that. from the white house perspective, from the people i have talked to, they are urging the president not to participate

because either you say the system and the investigation is flawed and then when you participate, you legitimize the investigation, they don't want to be able to do that. for the next few months they want to be able to say that it was not legitimate, wasn't real, and they never want to be sort of a part of that. that is sort of the thinking. there is actually one other isson the president satisfied with sitting it out and it's an interesting one. a few weeks ago he was very, very frustrated with republicans . out in the countries are lawmakers, state officials, for not defending him, not being out there on tv, defending him in op-ed's on what he did with ukraine. but now he feels like house republicans have really stepped and he feels confident that they can defend him during these committee hearings, so he feels like he can leave them to do that for him. host: we are talking to anita

kumar, one of the editors at it is not a foregone conclusion the democrats will secure votes for impeachment. what can you tell us about that? guest: i don't really know. that was a surprise. it does seeming is from everything we've seen publicly that the democrats will have enough votes. infighting, some disagreements on the democratic side on what the articles should be. perhaps she is referring to that. there is a fear they could loosen people if they make the articles too broad. many people in the caucus want to keep it to just the ukraine matter and not include anything else.

toerates are saying it needs just include that or they feel uncomfortable. some of the progressive wing wants to add the russian investigation. counting i've seen that they are doing it, it does seem they've got enough votes to go forward. pelosi would nancy push this forward unless she had the votes. host: you are always gracious with your time. we appreciate your insight. my final question, what will you be looking for in the days ahead? i am going to be looking at the inspector general report that is coming out of the doj. i expect a strong reaction from the white house. report into whether it was political bias in how the

department started the investigation in the first place. did the trump campaign collude with russia in 2016? i'm looking at this because the president talks about this all the time. he talks about how it started with bad information from the wrong places. investigated him before he was president. he has been pushing on this report. days,e last couple of leaks have come out saying that it's going to say they were right to start the investigation. case, i want to see with the president does. he's been talking about this for three years. it undercuts his argument. where does he go from here? host: we will follow the details that politico.com.

we thank you for your time. are sunday roundtable is coming up next. the new book is titled the diplomats: america's on the front lines. the authors join us along with opinionington post columnist. we will talk about foreign policy and the diplomatic corps. we will talk about the president's reelection strategy. week is theis republican from oregon. he talks about reports that legislation. republicans oppose the bill. plan.ave their own here is a portion of that conversation on newsmakers. they want us to do something on the high cost of drugs. most americans say don't do it

if it's at the expense of new cures. our legislation will address both. bill now, the democrat would be the equivalent of wiping out the national institute of health. they would take so much money and venture capital that leads to these cures, from , we don't think that's a good thing. the drug plan for seniors. we put that in place. we were doing great until the speaker's office dropped a chart 3. it became partisan. limitt legislation would

research? >> there is an analysis by the office of management and -- the congressional budget office. it says because the plan would of the00 billion out health care world, you could see 15 new drugs never come out of the pipeline. i don't know if that would kill -- cure alzheimer's or parkinson's. what we do know is eight to 15 drugs. the council of economic advisers said industrywide it could be upwards of 100 new drugs that would never come through the pipeline. >> americans are getting engaged and politics feels less like a spectator sport.

issuesf the same social the book covers are still the ones relevant today. people were outraged by family separation and sexual assault on women. time provides a crucial precursor to the moment. >> professor holly jackson talks about her book american radicals. watch tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on q&a. >> washington journal continues. with are sunday roundtable the washington post. good sunday morning. thank you for being with us. paul is the author of the new book "the ambassadors."

we should point out, you two know each other. how long have you been married? guest: since 1987. 32nd: we just had our wedding anniversary. the shootings at the place on friday at the naval air station in pensacola was linked to saudi nationals. the gunmen was in the saudi air force. there has been some speculation there may be linked to terrorism. what can you tell us? that hehere are signs had become more religious before this shooting happened. he had shown an interest in mass shootings. he had shown videos of mass shootings. there is a lot more that needs to be investigated. the suspicion is there may be some link to terrorism. host: even though there has been

denunciation from the saudi government, our relations strained? the president's reaction has been very interesting. kings been conveying the has great sorrow over this. he has promised there will be reparations. this is a different tone than we've heard from him on these horrific incidents in the past host: why do you think that is the case? guest: a number of reasons. there is the fact that saudi arabia has an influence on our economy. it is the countervailing force to iran. president trump has an affinity with them from the very beginning. host: is that a concern for you? guest: there are divisions even

between president trump and some of his strong supporters on this issue. has saidz from florida he believes this is a terrorism incident. he is very concerned about. downdent trump is playing the effects of this. host: let's talk about your book. was the premise behind it? a smallt's a book about inner circle of career diplomats who after the 9/11 attacks were called on again and again to be ambassadors to some of the toughest places in the world. they went to places like iraq and afghanistan, libya, pakistan. theireally ran the show for the president. they were the eyes and ears for the president. viewers have seen

the career ambassadors come forward in the ukraine inquiry. they are wondering what these people are like. my book is a good portrait of what some of our best ambassadors are like, what they've been doing in these dangerous spots. host: we will come back to excerpts from the book. i want to begin with one of the key people. guest: he is a six-time ambassador who has been drawn to these places again and again. george w. bush called him america's lawrence of arabia. everybody at the state about the has stories things he has done in these places. about, hee i write went to afghanistan twice. ambassador in syria, kuwait, lebanon.

foremost was the expeditionary diplomat. following:rite the they don't get a lot of attention, unlikely generals and the spy chiefs. find the scenes, they are providing the most important information. they are sent into places that are chaotic. do.igure out what to they are asked to improvise and find out who the u.s. needs to know.

they have to run huge missions involving hundreds of people. help plan war campaigns encounter is him -- counter -- and counterterrorism campaigns. host: do you share each other's work? swap: we will occasionally chapter drafts. you don't want to tread too heavily on that in our household. finishing my book. it won't be published until 2021, after this crazy election season we are about to enter. host: can you give us one factoid, one nugget of information that has surprised you the most in researching nancy reagan? ,uest: i have been surprised people thought of her as a

socialite first lady. was a great advisor to her husband, her instincts about people were sharper than his. he trusted everybody, she trusted nobody. hisn point to times in presidency where if she had not this personn top of or bringing another person, it might have turned out differently. i would turn to the impeachment investigation and the testimony of maria von of its. she talked about the role of the diplomatic corps. this is part of her opening statement. diplomats leave a comfortable life, throwing dinner parties in fancy homes. let me tell you about my reality. it has not always been easy. moved 13 times and served in seven different countries.

my first tour was mogadishu. an increasingly dangerous place as the civil war kept grinding on and the government was weakening. the military took over policing functions in a brutal way. basic services disappeared. later, after the soviet union collapsed, we were establishing relations with a new country, our embassy was attacked by gunmen, who sprayed the building with gunfire. i later served in moscow. in 1993 during the coup in russia, i was caught in the crossfire between presidential and parliamentary forces. tries to get into a vehicle to go to the embassy.

we went because the ambassador asked us to come. we went because it was our duty. that testimony from the former ambassador to the ukraine. when you heard that, your reaction? guest: i think it's typical of what our diplomats do. they are in regular danger in many places. over the years, we've lost more then generals. especially in the last couple of decades in places like the middle east, there are militant groups targeting diplomats. it is going to be a concern. one of the big issues is how much danger they want to put up with. have beenies fortified, there are more security people around all the time. are we going to make them so secure that they are unable to get out and make contact with foreign governments?

that's the point of the job. think it was extraordinary in these hearings. you get to see a side of our government we don't get to see very often. beenast few years have underappreciated. a at the state department is low. a lot of people are leaving. demonized asing the deep state. whether the president is a republican or democrat, they carry out foreign policy. host: let me go back to your book. this is a quote that he has in the book. there is nothing out there i concede that is going to reverse this 100 year old good governance. and you explain the confidence of that quote? caller: he was asked about the

future of the middle east and south asia. it is such a difficult area for the u.s.. he and the other ambassadors who are important in my book have agreed it's a discouraging prospect. governance remains weak. there is high unemployment. aere is a failure to produce government that people trust. that means continuing unrest. the number of militants has not declined. it has increased severalfold since 9/11. the u.s. doesn't want to be involved so much anymore. these problems haunt us in the future. the new book is "the ambassadors." let's get to your phone calls. (202) 748-8000 for democrats.

(202) 784-8001 four republicans. robin is joining us from alabama. caller: thank you, c-span. the first question is do you feel like the ambassadors and are protectedseas enough? should they be more protected than our kids in schools? the second question would be all of these ambassadors are patriots. where is the memorial for them? god bless america. host: thank you for the call. guest: there is a museum in diplomacy that is being built near the state department. there will be an institution that tells their story. safety, thetheir security has been rising for

years. the debate is how much security is enough? travel in armored vehicles. they only go out if there are security officers that feel it is safe. meetey still get out and foreign leaders and average people in these countries. that is part of the job. one of theest: ambassadors that he profiled is chris stevens. he became a political issue. we need to see him as a human being, what his motivation was. your reaction to what your husband wrote about chris stevens.

guest: there is the dilemma. keep yourself as safe as possible? you get out and do your job and learn what is actually going on on the ground in the country where you are serving so you can give washington the most accurate and best advice? host: what struck you about ambassador stephens? guest: he had a gift for friendship. people in libya really took to him. his decision about going to benghazi, he was wrestling with

the security issue. if you go toaid benghazi, there will be danger. there are militant groups setting up shop. stephens understood that. he had been in the country for several months and decided he needed to get out. the u.s. needed to show the flag and make contact. wase people feel the u.s. going to do things for the country. host: adam is joining us from new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. needld like to say that we trumps foreignut selling weapons to arab

countries, mainly saudi arabia. our president is the laughing stock of the planet. host: what happened at nato? that comment by the canadian prime minister, the laughs from boris johnson and emmanuel macron. guest: it was a difficult trip for the president. when he was campaigning for office, he said foreigners are laughing at us. , these momentson caught on video were european leaders making fun of trump. it's not the moment he wants to cherish.

he came back to the u.s. where he was under attack and being measured for impeachment. host: he came back earlier than expected. guest: he called off his last news conference. the trip was important. part of his survival strategy through this impeachment sonia is to be seen as doing his job, whether it's performing on the domestic front, the economic news was excellent for him. to be seen as a leader on the world stage. this latest meeting did not turn out the way he would have hoped. aboutyour recent these nancy pelosi and her catholicism. they asked if she hated the president. you write the following:

guest: it was such an

interesting moment. she so rarely shows the anger we aw when he asked her provocative and accusatory question. i was raised catholic. that word has a power in the faith. a lot of people will point out that she has broken with hurt church on matters of doctrine. as pope francis said about a year ago, catholics see hate as , that hate is murder in your heart. that particular word set her off. pelosi, asee nancy product of 16 years of parochial catholic schools there.

the question was from james rosen. let's watch. anybody.t hate i was raised in the catholic house, we don't hate anybody. >> i asked a question. the democrats are doing this because they don't like the guy. >> i think this president is a coward when it comes to helping gunkids who are afraid of violence. i think he is cruel when he doesn't deal with helping our dreamers. aboutk he is in denial the climate crisis. that's about the election. the constitution

of the united states and that leads to the violation of his oath of office. as a catholic, i resent you using the word hate. i don't hate anyone. i always pray for the president. i still pray for the president. i pray for him all the time. don't mess with me when it comes to words like that. host: what does that moment tell you about washington today? guest: it tells me that political leaders like the speaker should be repaired for anything thrown at them. it seemed like she was ready for this. -- guest: nancy pelosi is a speaker unlike any we've seen in the time i've been in washington. she is a very pragmatic arson.

the struggle is going to be her preference to keep the impeachment closely focused on what happens in ukraine. don't get involved in robert mueller. feel: that is the strong of her more moderate members, those freshmen who are in flippeds where they from being republican districts. sentiment strong among the left in her party that they want to expand this to things from the mueller investigation. it will be very interesting to see how she operates over the next few weeks. host: we are here in washington. you have covered washington how many years? guest: i got here in 1983.

host: paul richter, his new book is called "the ambassadors." back to your phone calls. we have the line for independence. caller: good morning. god bless our troops and god bless america. god bless c-span. i am a voting man. i am an advocate for the homeless. comment is i did not vote for president trump. i pray for him. since a lot of the leaders of foreign countries see us as comical and compromised right now, how prepared is he for the doublecrossed by foreign leaders?

i have noticed it seems like anytime someone can go against what they said it and do things other than what they agreed upon. host: can you elaborate? caller: ok. for instance, i heard some stuff about north korea. there was going to be an agreement. now they are shooting missiles. at any time, they could do what they want to do. how prepared is the president to respond? host: thank you for the call. let's pick up on the situation in north korea. according to the wall street journal, they are expressing this pleasure over the failed nuclear talks. unless there is a new path forward, or testing is likely. guest: it seems like things are heating up again and north koreans are starting to use

salty language. they referred to him as a don't hard. they would like to get his attention and get some time of deal. -- type of deal. the president has a goal, to get an arrangement worked out. possible there will be more talks. do you think there could be another summit? guest: i'm saying president trump has a political motive for ,rying to work something out whether it's a big deal or a small one. there may be talks resuming. i think he put his finger on something important. with the instincts of a new york ideaestate developer, this

relationships, he has history making deals. we have seen him very frustrated, not only in north korea but trying to deal with china. absolutely determined that he can get these deals by essentially talking directly to foreign leaders. this has not been the situation in the past. he is getting frustrated. host: we are going to illinois next. thank you for waiting. caller: have a happy holidays. sitting, i am 67 years

old. every one ofching these impeachment hearings. that theye any how can find this man guilty. know whatke to president obama told that lady, whatever that was, the answer they asked about burisma. that has got me going there. it is a farce. nancy pelosi has to hate the guy. that is my comment. host: can you talk about what will happen in the senate? there will be a trial. fiverats feel the democrats running for president should not be part of the jury because they have expressed

their point of view. isst: i think the trial going to be fascinating to watch. it will be interesting. host: it will be live on c-span two by the way. will they call vice president biden and his son to testify. i was with a group of columnists about a month and a half ago. public sentiment on this issue, there is more support now for his impeachment than there ever was for bill clinton's. there is more support at this point for richard nixon. pelosi said something i think is true. we are not going to get higher than 50%. people are in their caps. they are in their tribes. i don't think we will see whatever the evidence is, we won't see some gigantic surge of

support or opposition. the numbers overall are probably going to stay close to where they are now. carried livell be every sunday morning. we will are on the bbc parliament channel. we welcome our viewers and listeners. this is the sunday roundtable. "theew book is called ambassadors." guest: we were both working for the los angeles times, working for the business section. one day, karen was assigned to come down on the headquarters building to the orange county office were i was working. she was there basically to that people in los angeles thought should be handled by the energy specialist rather than us.

met because i stole a story. host: the rest is history. let's go back to phone calls. gary is joining us from new jersey. did sunday morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am 82 years old. i've been watching -- host: why rush it. stay 81. eligibleour guests are for medicare. sendl next week -- i will a notice to the whistleblower cental that the politicians must ,ddress not medicare for all medicare to cover hearing aids, to bring prescriptions down. ask grassley and people who have been there 50 years who paid for

their hearing aids. why aren't they addressing issues that affect the people western mark host: this debate is front and center among democrats. it's interesting. one of the things that speaker pelosi is determined to do is get through a bill that would lower the prices of prescription drugs. another issue people are concerned about, she does not want this impeachment vote to be the last thing the house votes on before they go home. people are paying attention to this. they are much more concerned about seeing washington address the quality of their own life.

i am told by democratic organizers an issue that doesn't get talked about a lot but that people are worried about is affordable housing. host: let me go back to the book. you talk about italy and the failure of governance. can you elaborate? points when the citizens of these countries are debating with themselves what needs to be done. likeimportant world powers the u.s. are unable to make much difference. when anne way it was patterson was sent to egypt

after the revolution. party towanted to be a what was going on. it wanted to have influence. basically, there was an angry debate going on between the old establishment and the muslim brotherhood, which has a lot of influence. for the next two years while she was there, and patterson and other officials were trying to push the country toward reform of the government. they got nowhere. it ended with a military coup. he is still there. he is even more authoritarian than his predecessor. host: let's go to georgia. james is next. good morning. you have to accept

certain interpretation of what is said, that doesn't seem to be any real evidence. this is straight out of george orwell. i want to go back to the press conference. there was another moment in there that shows you what is going on. someone asked the speaker what -- moment. there is no telling how many were killed while this aid was withheld. it's already been testified about. never any impairment

militarily to respond to the russians. there was no shortfall ever. they still received aid. moment wasink her pressuring the ukrainian government to come up something he did use against his leading political opponent. about, she was giving eulogies at a funeral the week that happened. that is where she began to realize there was a new set of facts on the table. some of her moderate freshmen

members decided they could support impeachment over this. pelosi, who is the best vote counter we have seen, she began to understand this wasn't some push by those left-leaning liberals in her caucus. this was a consensus. host: mike pence was interviewed on foxnews last night. what question do you want to ask him? guest: there are so many. host: he met with the ukrainian president back in june. the president canceled because of weather conditions here. guest: i would love to know what separate of this system of foreign diplomacy that theeing processed by

president's private attorney. he comes from congress. ,t would be very interesting does he approve of this freelancing that is going on overseas. host: i want to share to you what gq.com is writing. this is based on the foreign service association. guest: the former secretary of state of state has been speaking out on once happening at the state department.

month,go to a piece last he is worried it is going to take years for the foreign service to recover the strength it once had. it didn't start with president trump. it has gradually shrunk starting in the mid-80's when congress began reducing its budget. has grown a great deal since then, intelligence agencies have done well, congress and president's have felt it was ok to cut back these diplomatic capabilities. when we are meeting and taking governments, they are represented by professional diplomats with a lot of experience, the russians and chinese. we are using people who are

amateurs and they are trying to negotiate with experienced diplomats. host: this question was brought to mike pompeo. that herworth noting departure preceded the arrival of bill taylor. out there that this change was designed to enable a nefarious purpose. it was bill taylor that represented -- replaced her. i am proud of what this administration has done. we reverse the massive failures of the obama administration. it allowed vladimir putin to take crimea. given just blankets

and nonlethal equipment. i am proud of what we have done. the state department is fully supportive of what we've done. >> no defense of your employees western mark -- employees? team employ the greatest in the history of the world? guest: it's interesting. he talks about the ambassador. the president was demonizing her. he did that on that phone call. as the secretary says, she was carrying out administrative policy. why was it that the president to see her go?ed host: you write about robert ford. his last job was

ambassador to syria. he was sent there in 2011 when he thought his job was going to be calm and boring. civil war broke out. he ended up being chased through plainclothesy security guys. he had to leave syria as the civil war got underway. he had that job for two years. before that, he spent two hours in iraq. he spent more time than anyone else. he is one of those expeditionary diplomats who found his way out into the middle of the battle. host: let me get your reaction to what your husband wrote about robert ford.

guest: among the characters, he seems like the most adventure seeking of those. what was the funny line about tariffs? guest: you are thinking about ryan. he pointed out to me when we discussed his history, he didn't intend to go into the foreign services. he wanted to go to places like morocco where he had been in the peace corps and have a calm life. it was thrust upon him. opportunities to go to calm her places and he never did.

funny.the line is so atst: he told students stanford university, you want to spend your career in places like lebanon and paris or go where the action is? host: host: paul richter began in los angeles with the l.a. times. kevin is joining us on the bbc parliament channel. the call is from london. had. caller: god bless america. god bless america from london. host: what is going to happen in your election western mark -- election? caller: i live one mile from parliament. i have no idea.

country needs help as much as yours. visit, what to the , the presidentlt has a habit of attacking his own staff publicly and his own ambassadors. it is a sad thing to see. you employ people and you should treat them with respect. you shouldn't publicly humiliate them. it seems that way with your president. he has a tendency to publicly attack his own staff. this is not diplomatic in any way. i hope the catches on. -- he catches on. i do not hate the president. i am not particularly fond of him. i don't hate him.

i was walking through westminster where i work. i noticed a lady praying. i took a second look. it was nancy pelosi. over, theress was were security guys. i shook her hand and found her very charming. all the very best to you. host: thank you for that insight. that is an extraordinary story. nancy pelosi, people talk about how she was the daughter of the mayor of baltimore. mother,shaped by her who is a daily communicant. g7 summit will be held at camp david. what does that mean? president trump

has avoided criticism over his plan to have it at his resort in florida. that was becoming an untenable proposition. from wendy is joining us west virginia. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. he seems to know a lot about ambassadors. and very concerned inquisitive about the fact that our ambassadors were not given any information to deal with the ukrainian president. is that common practice for our ambassadors who are basically being paid by the american people to do a job. that theyon practice bring in another set of people to deal with a situation without giving the information to our

ambassadors so they can do the job? host: we appreciate the question. guest: a lot of presidents have used noncareer appointees to handle diplomatic issues. president trump has been more any to use his own political appointees rather than the career diplomats. he has been a believer that it was fine to disrupt the traditional ways of diplomacy. the downside is there are situations where the career diplomats have more background and the political appointees are new on the job. there is a disadvantage. guest: he is using his personal attorney as well. book.two notes about the the cover represents what?

guest: it's a picture of an attack that happened in the outskirts of damascus. it illustrates the idea that a special class of diplomat who were attracted to work on the front lines, that they were always close to the attacks. underere sometimes artillery fire, sometimes they were kidnapped during the course of their work. it was a constant concern. is a longtime u.s. diplomat who had some of the toughest jobs in the state department. she kept signing up for more of them. sometimes, nobody else would sign up for them. ambassador to columbia at the height of the drug war. the u.s. was trying to keep the

country from falling to insurgents. she was the ambassador to pakistan. a time when the u.s. was worried about the militants. she had a role in trying to guide that campaign that was spiking. she had to worry the civilian government was almost always near collapse. out.ad to sort this:ite to explain job was pakistan to washington. the civilian government

is not at the center of power in pakistan. it's the army in the military. during its history, the army has stepped in and asserted itself and taken control. administration and ambassador patterson did not want that to happen. they thought it would be destabilizing. keep thewas to fromnment of musharraf collapsing. she succeeded. there was a peaceful transfer of power. that was her number one goal. very first caller came from south dakota. this is mike on the democrat line. good morning. caller: i would like your guest

to address an important issue that all three of us can remember. impeachment is not cataclysmic. it doesn't necessarily tear the country apart. resigned, ford became president. it wouldry went on as have as if nothing had happened. president ford was really concerned about the lasting turbulence of the nixon impeachment issue. he pardoned president's and as a leave of that, too watergate behind us. feelings a lot of hard

and conflict from that issue. a key difference is was bipartisan support to remove richard nixon and we don't see that today. guest: we have seen to impeachment drives in 29 years. we have seen three of them total. guest: the republic will stand. we have an incredibly resilient country. we went through the civil war and the depression. they do tend to be followed by a lot of political turmoil. the after affects go on for years. that in the 2000 election. this is not something that should be done lightly. testimony.ve more stafferll was a former

for the national security council and worked in the trump white house briefly. >> we don't have coffee machines in our office. the best i could have offered you was couple of water. shared, hethat we found out i was going to be there and asked me to meet him for coffee in wyoming. this is the year before i left. perhaps he conflated those meetings together. guest: amenities or lack thereof of the diplomatic corps. guest: she makes an interesting point. if the coffee is not of the best quality in the white house, what it is like way out in the field. i think her testimony is

all the more important that we hear that some point from her former boss john bolton. host: will we? guest: i have no idea. we will see how this works through the court cases. to jory inll go georgia. caller: good morning. i would like to respond to something your guests, the lady, said. i cannot understand how she could separate the two. she said something about nancy pelosi, she had broken from that the issueer of abortion, but not over hatred. how can you separate those two? i did not understand her comment about abortion. she got very upset over the word hatred. to me abortion is hatred. i did not understand her remarks on that. i did not.

they did not sound right. host: thank you. you recently wrote that impeach and the president requires both a lens and a nearer. guest: right. fact-findings a mission. it is trying to get to the fundamental truth of what has occurred, but it is also a reflection of what kind of country we are. what we are seeing is where a country that is deeply polarized. the numbers have moved quite a bit since july in favor of impeachment. where they have moved is to a country that is split down the middle, and i think however this turns out, that is probably where public opinion is going to be. we will go to los angeles, sam, republican line. caller: thanks for getting to my call. host: go ahead.

caller: can you hear me? host: we sure can. caller: i would like to take an issue because it is painting the picture in such a negative state of affairs. the caller called in and said the country is going to move past this the way we have before. it sounds like your two guests, one of them begrudgingly admitted it. i would rather hear a positive narrative. i would never call members of the press fake news. i know a lot of them work hard. howve some insight into rhetoric is steering the discussion. i worked in 2014 for an independent news organization, and i was in ukraine. i saw a lot of russian material.

this is a civil war. west ares in the fighting eastern separatists. it is documented and provable. i am a little dismayed that every single person who seems to get up and testify in the hearings was bent on painting this picture it is a hot war against russia. host: i'm going to stop you there and give our guests a chance to respond. guest: there is not identifiable russian equipment or personnel in the donbass. the little green men, the ones who are rushing, or have russian connections, want to keep that anonymous. i'm not sure that signifies much. host: how much of this is going

to be an issue in the 2020 election? guest: i gave up predicting elections in 2016. host: you and a lot of people. guest: ultimately it is going to depend on how quickly this gets over with and how quickly the .andidates can return how it plays out is going to affect things. policy perhaps foreign is going to play a bigger role than we might have thought. we are in a very uncertain world. who knows what happens between now and then? host: based on the reporting in your newspaper, the house

judiciary committee hearing will look more like a trial. will you be looking for this week? guest: i think at this point i will be surprised if there are any new arguments put forward. what i will be watching is how the articles of impeachment shape up and this tension between the left and the center between house democrats and how broadly they are going to draw the articles of impeachment. if it is just going to be about the president's actions with respect to ukraine or whether they are going to bring in other things. host: the book is the ambassadors. what surprised you the most in researching this? u.s.: the extent to which officials were directing the action at many times in these countries. with the assent of local

leaders. where thesituations states are fractured. it to appearnt that u.s. officials are telling them what to do. they are eager for american support and direction. profiled four key investors. guest: robert ford, chris stevens. host: this was fun. when you come back again? guest: yes. host: coming up in just a moment, we take a look at the president's strategy for reelection with marc lotter. you are watching "washington journal" this sunday, december 8. we are back in a moment.

>> americans are coming out and getting engaged. politics is feeling less like a spectator sport for people on the left. issues that the book covers are still relevant today. outraged by family separation and sexual assault of women and the devaluation of black lives, etc. provides a crucial precursor to our moment. >> holly jackson talks about her book american radicals.

watch tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. as house democrats along with speaker nancy pelosi again drafting articles of impeachment, the house judiciary committee convenes a hearing on evidence with democratic and republican counsel presenting evidence on the inquiry. >> all across the country middle and high school students are hard at work. the issues they would most like the 2020 candidates to address in their campaigns. we would love to see your progress. take us behind the scenes. still working on an idea?

we have resources on our website. hasgetting started page resources to guide you through the process of making a documentary. c-span will award $100,000 in total cash prizes, including a $5,000 grand prize. the best advice i can give to young filmmakers is not to be afraid to take your issue seriously. you are never too young to have an opinion. let your voice be heard. "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome back marc lotter, campaign strategist .f the presidents reelection good sunday morning. thank you for being with us. guest: thanks for having me.

host: how does the president's reelection campaign will with impeachment? we would rather not deal with it at all. if democrats are going to take the country down this path, we will deal with it. we have seen a massive influx of volunteers, donors, people reaching out to the campaign for the first time. the house judiciary committee releasing its report. the democrats are saying we have invited the president to come and take part in this hearing. they claim it is unfair. how can they claim that when they are not participating in the house hearings? guest: from the beginning, republicans were not allowed to call witnesses without chairmanships approval. this has been cooked from the beginning. nancy pelosi announced this inquiry before the transcript

cannot, before the whistleblower complaint came out. they jumped this shark without all the facts. they have shown no interest in getting the facts from the beginning. host: do you think the house will vote to impeach the president? guest: this looks like they are going to do. there are some moderate democrats elected in districts the president one, they are having serious misgivings because people at home are telling them this is not what they want them to do. they want them to focus on usmca, jobs, prescription drugs. nancy pelosi has been in this town for a long time. i don't think she would put it up if she did not have the votes to get it through. vice president mike pence saying in his words it is not a foregone conclusion. guest: he knows this is a very difficult vote for many members.

i don't think nancy pelosi would put it up for a vote if she did not happen. democrats will be in a difficult position having to vote on this. host: if it goes to the senate, he will be the third president to be impeached by the house of representatives. does he worry that will stay in his legacy? think so.on't he has a record of results to run on. he has proven from the beginning that the democrats have been focused on impeachment since the day he was elected. acquitted inickly the senate, and he will get back to governing on behalf of the american people. host: democrats were quick to go after house republicans when they impeached bill clinton 20 years ago. now the republicans winning the democrats for a political witchhunt. take your partisan hack off for a moment. off for a moment. where does this leave the country? guest: i think it leaves us

deeply divided. underas been exacerbated this president. we have not been able to come back together as a country to move forward even for that short time, the so-called honeymoon before the next campaign engages and kicks in. there has been a determined effort, the resistance was formed because of this presidents election. many democrats have never gotten past that. i think that is where we are as a country. we will have to go through another campaign cycle with that. host: in fairness, mitch mcconnell said he wanted to make barack obama a one term theident, blocking nomination of merrick garland to the supreme court. guest: there is always going to be politics involved. this is washington, d.c. we saw republicans wanted to make bill clinton a one term president. democrats wanted to make george

w. bush a one term president. we were always able to put some partisan concerns aside and move forward together on things that were of concern to the country. with a very rare exception this congress has not been able to do that. host: has the president been able to do that? name-calling, is he doing this? guest: he is speaking the way that many people across america think. they talk amongst their friends in the same tone. he has shown a willingness to work. he worked together with democrats to get criminal justice reform done. he has shown an interest to talk about immigration and lowering prescription drugs. aside the public comments , there is not that much work getting done behind the scenes, and that is where many people are frustrated with washington, d.c. host: is there any chance that the president would remove

president pence from the the piece lot? guest: absolutely not. the president has been very clear on that on many occasions. he was asked that in the last couple weeks. absolutely committed to the vice president staying on the ticket. host: speaking of the vice president, former vice president joe biden out with a new ad based on the president's trip to london this week in the nato meeting. [video clip] >> world leaders caught on camera laughing about president trump. >> several world leaders mocking president trump. >> they are laughing at him. >> might administration has accomplished more than any administration in the history of this organization. [laughter] response. expect that >> something is very wrong.

sees trump for what he really is, dangerously incompetent and incapable of world leadership. if we give donald trump four more years, we'll have a great deal of difficulty of ever being able to recover america's and bringn the world our nation together. host: your response? guest: that shows how out of touch the biden campaign is. this is a president who does not care if he is like by world leaders. he is going to do what is right for the american people.

we saw that under the obama administration. getting us into horrible deals with the iran deal and the paris climate accord, putting american jobs at risk to gain favor among the elites of europe. that is not something this president is going to do. he will work with our foreign partners when we can. he is going to make sure they understand we are not going to be taken advantage of any more. america's interests come first. host: with new testing going on in north korea, according to kim jong-un, it will continue until the gauche's resume at a better pace. negotiations resumed at a better pace. guest: this has been failed to be addressed by presidents of both parties for 40 years. has put a maximum pressure campaign on north korea.

those sections have not lifted. that pressure remains in place. this is a president who is willing to sit down with them. our goal is clear. we want a denuclearize korean peninsula. the president has said we will work with north korea. we will work to rebuild their crumbling economy. we can deal with this in a constructive way or a more combative way in terms of the dialogue. it will be up to north korea to see how they proceed. host: have you given any thought to just how much money will be spent in this campaign in 2020? guest: it is hard to put your mind around how many zeros. host: especially with michael bloomberg in the race. guest: we have a

multibillion-dollar campaign on our side. let alone the democratic side. you have billionaires like michael bloomberg trying to buy their nomination. this will be the most expensive residential race in history, i have no doubt. host: our guest is marc lotter, a campaign strategist to the trump 2020 campaign. your background includes what? guest: state and local all caps primarily. spent the first 13 years of my life out of desk politics primarily. spent the first 13 years of my life out of college in journalism. caller: good morning. i just wanted to make two points. --ublicans are trying to do democrats are not doing anything else. 400democrats have passed bills that are sitting on mitch

mcconnell's desk according to the news reports, and 274 of thatare bipartisan bills the republicans have not moved. that is not true that the democrats are not doing anything else except for impeachment. the other point i wanted to make in terms of the number of people who agree with impeachment is according to reports, 50% of people who have said they agree with impeachment. that is a large number. that in understanding other instances it was like 30% or less when they were calling for impeachment. that is a large number. i don't know why republicans keep saying the numbers are not moving. another point is that republicans, when there was a

poll done about who they thought was the best republican president, so many republicans said they thought the president was an even greater president then president lincoln. if that is the case, i doubt if there will be any movement. host: thank you. let me begin with some t weets. , 44%eground state polls support impeachment, 51% oppose it. support, 43%s, 47% oppose. guest: the thing to remember on these national polls as they are skewed because you have certain states like california, new york, and others, which are extremely liberal and have large population centers. that skews the overall national number. when you look at the polling in 'se states, nancy pelosi

majority maker will be running for reelection. i think that is something that is important. especially when you remember that adam schiff and the democrats controlled every step of this process in the house until now. they have lost support among independents. imagine what happens if it goes to the senate where there will be republican ability to call witnesses, witnesses will be forced to answer republican questions, and the president can mount a thorough defense. it will be very damaging for the democrats. today, the trump campaign and the gop will not credentialed bloomberg news reporters. why? bloomberg made an editorial decision they would only cover part of the news. they forbid their journalists from covering michael bloomberg

or any other democratic candidates. there will be no investigative coverage of the democratic side. they will only investigate the republican side. former journalist, that flies in the face of everything journalism stands for. they are not going to be credentialed to attend our private campaign events. host: why is the new york times and washington post such a frequent target by the president? guest: their coverage is very one-sided, very liberal. a lot of times sources and stories have to be retracted. their editorial pages are notoriously biased for liberals and democrats. in many cases it is difficult to have a fair and balanced

presentation of the fact. host: on the republican line, texas, ivan. are you with us? guest: -- caller: i was wondering if any of you all watch one american news, and seen the story about the ambassador you on which, she came on live in that hearing. seen nancy you've pelosi have her meltdown the other day. nobody showed her have her meltdown. i guess that doesn't suit them. host: thank you. guest: obviously there is a lot of reporting out there in various aspects. i have seen some of the reports of these things. this is one of the opportunities

. we need to make sure people are fully informed. make sure you get all of the facts before you make your conclusions based on what one side or the other is saying. an event in iowa, we posted on our website, with former vice president joe biden, his no malarkey to work. what do you think of the name? guest: it is an interesting choice. if you have to put the definition of the word on the side of the bus, it is not something many people are probably going to connect with. berserk oniden goes a retired farmer who asks questions about his son, he also fact.the farmer guest: that was probably not a high moment for his campaign.

he tried to walk some of it back in terms of some of the things he said. joe biden has not faced any actionsquestions on his and that of his son. talk about this in terms of the 2020 election, we should not forget that the appearance of impropriety and the allegations of potential impropriety happened while he was the sitting vice president of the u.s. this is not about 2020. this is about activities going back onto the obama administration. noorry that if we say sitting officeholder can actually be investigated or looked at for the appearance were alleged improprieties internationally as long as they are running for reelection, you are never going to have a candidate ever stopped running for reelection.

caller: i was listening to your guests, and i think he has a lot of interesting subjects that he was talking about. my call is about the american people. first off are not stupid people. they can see what the president does every day. they can see how he acts, how he portrays himself. he does not carry on the

people's part when he goes to a foreign country. he can see every day when he , howto his campaign rally he acts as a child, how he does not know how to carry on as a president. we are not stupid. we will remember him, and he will not get away with what he is trying to do. host: thank you. guest: i would disagree politely with donna and tell you i have spent a lot of time with the president. he knows what he is doing in terms of communicating his goals to the american people. if he is keeping other foreign uneven footing, that puts him in a position of advantage when negotiating various aspects of our foreign policy. this is a president who believes

in negotiating from a position of strength. if they are not sure what he may or may not do, what actions he may take, it puts him in a position of advantage when it comes to negotiations. it is something he has done throughout his business career and continues to do. the results are showing it is working for the american people. host: if you want to follow your work, work and they do so? -- where can they do so? guest: they can find me on twitter. ask mr. lotter y president trump will not let mike pompeo and giuliani testified. guest: rudy giuliani, the president mentioned yesterday before going to florida, he may or may not testify. that is up to him. when it comes to cabinet level officials and senior white house

officials, there is a precedent involved. if we ever get to a position regardless of party where a president cannot have honest, robust, and disagreeing opinions in a meeting for fear that they are going to be hauled before congress and forced to testify about where they disagree with a president, we will do a disservice to every executive leader. who believessident in having people with differing opinions surrounding him. he enjoys and encourages them to argue passionately for their points of view. it is his decision to make. if we take that ability away, forced the white house chief of staff or legal counsel to testify about their private conversations, their private recommendations, you will have future presidents of both parties who only surround themselves with people who agree with them for fear they are not going to be able to deal with a

hostile congress trying to score cheap political points. point,rom your vantage how is the white house preparing for a january senate trial? guest: very diligently. we have a great team with the communications staff. one of the things that is different than the previous modern events is because this president is entering his reelection year, you have the full resources of our campaign, the rebel national committee, and other groups able to amplify those messages to carry that message through. bill clinton had to create a war room to do that. we already have that in place. you will see a concerted effort by republicans across the board being able to support this president to call out the democrats for when we believe they are wrong for showboating. host: washington post reporting that the republican party

targeting those house democrats in a series of ad campaigns beginning this week. guest: these are democrats who will have to make difficult decisions when they vote on the upcoming impeachment articles. these are members who were elected in areas where president trump one. they are going to appear on the same ballot as the president next year. so far they have nothing to show for their time in office. many of them ran on a campaign saying they would work with this president to lower prescription drug prices, to do things to help farmers and workers like the usmca. so far none of it has happened. they will have to explain that to their constituents. with joe walshwn , one of the two republicans challenging the president in the primary. his contention is that he will do better than expected in iowa and new hampshire. what is your response? guest: i don't see that

happening at all. ist people don't know there even a republican running against the president. he had historic approval ratings among the 90's. we will make sure the present will be the nominee for the republican party, and he will be a winner next november and serve another four years in office. i'm not concerned spent zero amount of my time thinking about them. host: let's go to john in new york. caller: i have a comment on campaign2012. first, impeachment should go the way the clinton presidency did. i should impeach trump, but they should not removed from your that is the way it is going to go. 50 years ago i graduated high school. i'm 66. i did a paper on the electoral college as part of a classroom

assignment. i said it was needed to hundred years ago. it is not needed now. that is 50 years ago. i feel strongly that the exactly as ilege felt those days, needed to hundred 50 years ago. nowadays 250 years ago. it is not needed now. i live in a non-battleground state. you know as a campaign guy, 99% of your efforts are going to be in battleground states. if you live in california, new york, texas, your vote as far as the presidency, you know which way your state is going to go. you are not even involved. i probably won't see more than one or two from commercials -- trump commercials. in battleground states, they will see it every time tv cuts to commercial. we don't see any of that because

we are not in a battleground state. i feltas i'm concerned, for years that if you don't win the popular vote, you are getting in on a loophole. it is not in the constitution. the electoral college is not in the constitution. it is a loophole. you know president trump is not going to win the popular vote. you will concentrate on the battleground states, people in texas, new york, california, we are on the sidelines. host: thank you. guest: i believe in the wisdom of the electoral college. there are so many parts of america that would not be represented. the caller is talking about how he does not live in a battleground state, so he does not get exposure of the candidates or advertising. if you eliminate the electoral college, it would be no reason for people to go to nebraska. or wyoming, places where they have smaller population centers. everyone would focus their resources on the metro centers.

you would leave the middle. you would leave the midwest, rural areas completely unaccounted for. i think that was the wisdom of the founders thoughts on the electoral college, much like how they founded on capitol hill whereyou have the senate each state is represented equally to make sure that the non-population centers are not taken advantage of, are not overlooked, while the house is focused on a population distribution. the senate is the great equalizer were all things have an equal say. it is something that is here to say. -- stay. i fear what the illuminating the electoral college would do to politics. many people say we need to take money out. imagine if we had to focus on areas of dates been set media markets, expensive travel. it would drive the costs of campaigns even higher, which

would make candidates of both parties more beholden to fundraising. we have to think long term. host: i'm sure you saw the piece indicating the president could be reelected based on the electoral college, but could lose the popular vote by 5 million. if that were to happen, what impact would that have on the country? guest: i don't think it would have any different impact than we have seen in the past. host: we have never had a two-term president served with the electoral college. guest: if that happens, it will not make any difference whether the president will continue to serve on behalf of all of america regardless of what the popular vote says. that is not how we elect our presidents. the president is not concerned about states that did not vote for him in terms of executing his official actions. working with california to deal

with the wildfires they have had or the fact that they have such high taxation. these are things the president is focused on. line,on the republican paul from chicago. caller: good morning, c-span. i just wanted to say i was listening to you guys. the way they are doing our president, humiliating the president, the deep state media, unbelievable. in my 62 years, i have never seen nothing like this. it is depressing. i don't think the democrats realize what they are doing. they are destroying the presidency. you are going to make it where there will be no respect for another president that is a democrat. what they are doing is horrible. i cannot believe it is going on. host: still with us? caller: yeah.

mr. quid pro quo. host: thank you. we will get a response. guest: i worry about the future of the presidency and how it continues after this. we have seen such a disregard of the norms when you are expecting the white house to turn over documents and things. this is not a new phenomenon. presidents of both parties have resisted document requests in the past. we have to make sure the president has the ability to deliver that information and make his decisions based on that knowledge. the circusit over to on capitol hill, we will reduce the ability of the president to do that. host: you follow politics.

this: you have to think at point it is going to be one of the top four or five candidates that have been leading in the polls. the washington post has a great twitter account every day that i see. the last time i looked, if you go back into the 2008 cycle, hillary clinton was up by 15 points. rudy giuliani was up by 13 points on the republican side 2008. neither of them went on to get the nomination that year. there is a lot left to be done. we will see a lot more candidates rise and fall on their side. it will be interesting to watch. the fundraising was not there to keep up. after having a good start, she was not able to maintain that momentum.

this is a process that narrows the field through your own management and ability to fund raise. host: mark, democrats line. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, we can. caller: trump. putin. when the republicans keep pointing their fingers at the democrats, there are three more pointing back at them. you talk about unethical. day has been unethical from one. over 13,000 lies. i cannot believe the republican tactics. a dictatorship in this

country. whatlicans don't even see their underlying segment is going to be. guest: i would say we have to get to a point in the election where we are talking about results. this president has been elected because presidents from both parties have told the american people they would go out and do something and failed to deliver on that. whether it was failing to renegotiate nafta, getting tough on china, or moving the embassy in israel from jerusalem. presidents said they were going to do those things, and then they failed to deliver for the american people. this is a president who got out there, came from a nontraditional background, said if you put me in the white house, i will do those things.

this guy you know if he says something, he is going to find its a way to get it done. and onlinespan radio at c-span.org, the announcement this week, here is what she said. the president's actions have seriously violated the constitution, especially what he said, article two says i can do whatever i want. his wrongdoing strikes at the very heart of our constitution. each aaration of powers, check and balance on the other. our democracy is what is at stake.

the president is trying to ownupt the election for his power. defiance ofare in the vision of our founders and the oath of office that he takes thereserve and protect constitution of the united states. with confidence and humility, for a heart full of love america, today i'm asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment. host: that was the house speaker this past week. tony has this comment.

-- this will be a party line process. somebody has to show leadership. guest: it just flies in the face of what the founders intended. backwhat nancy pelosi said it has been no on impeachment. it will be no when they bring these articles up. we should have some historical context as well. remember barack obama did it on multiple occasions in his administration. so did george w. bush. releaserter refused to

aid to certain countries for certain reasons. withholding of that aid would drive an outcome they thought was in the interests of the american people. they are trying to impeach the president over a that was released. they have been focused on impeachment from day one. nothing will stop them. host: the contention was the aid was released once the white house found out there was a whistleblower. guest: the aid was released after the president had multiple conversations with president zelensky and we had assurances that a new administration that had taken over aimed at fighting corruption in a country known for corruption was going to rooter on that promise and out corruption and make sure that aid was not wasted.

that is something we have to know.ure we this is not something outside of a political circle. he was leading the negotiations and leading the u.s. effort in ukraine at that moment. it strikes of the appearance of impropriety. you had multiple witnesses in the democrats hearing that were called to testify that said they had issues with it. they raised it to the state department and the white house with no positive response. alarm bells in the obama white house. it raised alarm bells with this president as we were looking to give hundreds of billions of dollars to this country. host: this is irene on her

facebook page. she says the democrats in the house are trying to overturn the results of the 2016 election. it is not going to happen. jared, good morning. is gerard. in georgia, you become a republican or democrat in the primary. you have to pick one or the other. the guy at the heart of the fundraiser,gave a thursday, july 18, at his hall for adam schiff, something you are not going to see on any of the other stations. it is a conspiracy of a democrat. the democrats in this country

are going to throw it away. host: thanks for your call. guest: i'm not familiar with that reporting. i cannot offer a comment on it. host: we will go to arizona, democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. question, i only have two, can he explain the very bizarre statement trump made yesterday about 15 flushes of a toilet and water dripping from showers and you turn the foss it on? -- faucet on? host: i think you are talking about the remarks he made yesterday as he was departing for fort lauderdale. guest: i have seen the transcripts of it. we have changed some of the guidelines in terms of water pressure for water conservation. many people are complaining

about inadequate water control. the president is a builder. he knows a thing or two about making sure you have good plumbing in your building. should take aa look at it. host: back to your second question. caller: very bizarre statement. my second one is we have had so many russians floating around this administration. when has it become popular to become a communist? i don't understand his russianion with these mobsters. i don't understand why so many

russians are wrapped around this administration. we have not had it with any other administration. i never heard any russian names until this one. guest: there has been no president who has been as top on russia as president trump he released lethal aid to president trump. their destabilizing activities around the world. this president is also standing up to russia as they continue to violate nuclear treaties and try to develop weapons that pose a direct threat to the u.s. that this president said we are going to drop out of the treaty so we can respond in kind. this president is no friend to

russia or vladimir putin. the threat and is responding in kind. host: the ads mike bloomberg is now airing, any concern that will have an impact on your own reelection efforts? guest: we are not worried about michael bloomberg. he has just barely gotten into the race. he is free to spend as much money as he wants to. the american people see through these lenses. because ofpresident , this is ahip president who is delivering on his results. michael bloomberg can tax as many sodas as he wants, but that is not going to resonate with the american public. host: here is one of the ads by

the bloomberg campaign as he is in this race for the second week. [video clip] >> mike bloomberg started as a middle-class kid who had to work his way through college and build his business into a global entity. suffered the terrible tragedy of 9/11, he took charge and became a three term mayor who brought a city that from the ashes and jobs and hope. placees can have a decent to live to create a more open and livable city. he could have stopped there, but when he witnessed the terrible toll of gun violence, he helped to create a movement to take on the nra and the politicians they own to help turn the tide. he has funded college education

for thousands of low income kids. coals stood up to the lobby to protect the only home we have from the growing menace of climate change. there is no stopping here. there is an america waiting to be built where everyone without health insurance is guaranteed to get it and everyone who likes there's can keep it. where the wealthy can pay more in taxes and the struggling middle-class will get their fair share. from jobs that just allow you to get by become jobs that let you get ahead. president,erg for jobs creator, leader, problem solver. it is going to take all three to build back a country. host: marc lotter, the campaign spending upwards of $60 million across the country.

your response? guest: busy running as a republican, independent, or democrat? whatever suits his needs in his current election prospect. president will talk about cutting taxes in a city and state that has the highest tax burden in the nation. this is a president who is more than happy to have that discussion if mike bloomberg can survive this primary. we have no idea who we are going to face. whoever comes out of this mosh pit primary, you get to get into the ring with us, and we are fully financed. gym inet's go to oklahoma, republican line. are you with us? caller: hello?

host: good morning. go ahead. party: the republican better find out this election, because they have enough problems. cannot handle it anyway. host: we will go to the republican line in north carolina, alexis. caller: good morning. i am seriously concerned about election security. when the mueller report came out, he was adamant that we have election security and try to talk russia and other countries from interfering in our election process. host: will we have that in 2020? guest: we are already working on it. you have the department of homeland security and other agencies working with state

election officials for years to strengthen their hardware. they have been doing stress tests to make sure we do becauseng we can are run at the state level. we are doing everything we can to make sure state election officials have the resources and tools they are run at the state level. need to make sure our election is secure. host: can you give us a sense of the decision-making process in the campaign? what is your role and the presidents involvement? guest: the president is very involved. communicate on a daily basis. our job from the communications sure we doing

everything we can to get information out there to the people in the means they want to communicate. it is not just about television ads. it is making sure you have that information on your smart phone, and whatever you choose to receive information, we want to make sure we get it to you. host: thank you for being with us. please come back again. guest: i will. snl, alex night on baldwin taking aim at the president and a spin on cool kids in high school with the leaders of germany and france and canada. [video clip] >> angela. [cheers and applause] >> angela. eh?ave you a seat, >> them i actually about to sit

at the cool kids table? just relax, angela. should i bring my super horse. i am going to leave it behind. i must leave it all behind because i am cool, man. maybe just one strudel. hey. what's happening, my dudes? sorry, donald. losing.zing, you soybean tariffs, and my right. >> you know who might be coming to our party, obama. ?> you like like him, no >> obama, ew, he's like gross. i did not drive his face on my body pillow or anything. >> someone like you, donald. >> who? >> putin. [laughter] >> do the sign. >> you better get back now.

>> i'll see you guys later at the party, ok. >> totally. night, courtesy of snl and they are back next week. we are back tomorrow with ""washington journal." "newsmakers" is with representative greg walden. thank you for joining us. check out book tv. enjoy the rest of your weekend. have a great week ahead. [captioning perf