later, author craig shirley talks about his latest biography, about george washington's mother. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and well.r as "washington journal" is next. [video clip] >> today is a solomon sad day. for the third time in a little over a century and a half, the judiciary committee has voted articles of impeachment against the president. ♪ good morning and welcome to washington journal. president donald trump faces to articles of impeachment on the floor of the u.s. house of representatives, only the fourth time in our country's history that a president has faced impeachment. pushedcans say democrats for impeachment as a political move, while president trump is calling it a witch hunt and a sham.

committee democrats argued they are holding the president accountable for what they call abuse of power of the white house. our question of the morning -- what do you think about the judiciary committee's approval of impeachment charges against president trump? we are going to open up our regular lines this morning. republicans, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8001. democrats, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. independents, your line is (202) .48-8002 keep in mind, you can always text us your reaction at (202) 748-8003, and we are always reading on social media, on twitter at @cspanwj, and on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. ours set the stage for discussion this morning, going to what house judiciary committee chairman jerrold nadler said after the friday vote. here is what he said. [video clip] solemny -- today is a

and sad day. little third time in a over a century and a half, the house judiciary committee has voted articles of impeachment against the president for abuse of power and obstruction of congress. the house will act expeditiously. thank you. host: here's what that vote looked like on the first article of impeachment against president trump. here is what that looks like in the committee. [video clip] >> the question now is on article one of the resolution, impeaching president donald j. trump for abusing his power. the cleric will call the roll. roll]ng

mr. richmond votes yes. mr. jeffries votes aye. mr. cicilline? mr. cicilline votes aye. mr. swallow votes aye. ieu?ll mr. deming's? aye.ennings votes yes.aray about -- votes ms. garcia votes aye.

mr. -- votes aye. aye.cbath votes mr. stanton votes aye. ms. dean votes aye. aye.cardle powell votes ms. escobar votes aye. no.collins notes for mr. sensenbrenner votes no. mr. shaaban votes no. mr. gomer? >> my vote is no>>. >> mr. gomer votes no. mr. jordan votes no. mr. buck votes no. mr. radcliffe votes no. y votes no. mr. gates votes no. mr. johnson of louisiana votes

no. no.bicks votes mr. mcclintock votes no. miss lesko votes no. mr. rosenthal are votes no. mr. klein votes no. mr. armstrong votes no. mr. steube votes no. >> has every member voted who wishes to vote? recordedan, while i am -- >> you are recorded as no. >> i wanted to make sure. >> the clerical report. and 17e are 23 ayes nose. >> the article is agreed to. host: all of the democrats voted

yes, all of the republicans voted no. here is member judiciary committee mike johnson after that vote. >> the founding fathers warned against single party impeachment, and they had a very specific reason for warning us against that. they said it would be bitterly divisive, perhaps irreparably divisive for the country, and -- thathas happens now is what has happens now. this is the first time in 43 years that the president has been treated in this manner when followed and pursued a predetermined political outcome to get to that end. before the remember, famous july 25 phone call between president trump and president linsky that sparked 95 housee charade, democrats had voted to proceed with impeaching donald trump, before any of these facts came forward. that is not right. and said itned this

from the day he took his oath of office that they would remove him, and they pursued that end. this is what we are left with. 14 hours yesterday and a few moments this morning, an anticlimactic end to this also charade was fitting and appropriate. i think the american people are going to militate against this, i think the polling has shown they have been very frustrated. they see the lack of evidence, this paper is an impeachment proceeding, what ultimately developed out of it, there is nothing behind it. i think we showed that very clearly. i think there will be a big political price paid by the democrats at the polls next year. there were two articles of impeachment against president one is abuse of power. the second vote taken was on an article of impeachment, obstruction of congress. let's look at that vote and get to the calls. [video clip] >> question now is on article

resolution, impeaching president donald trump for instructing congress. the court call the roll. ye.mr. nadler votes a ms. lofgren votes aye. ms. jackson lee votes aye. n votes aye. mr. deutch votes aye. ms. bass votes aye. mr. richmond votes yes. .r. jeffries votes aye mr. cicilline votes aye. mr. swalwell votes aye. mr. lieu? -- votesn votes schiff

aye. .s. deming votes aye mr. garay of votes aye. ms. garcia votes aye. .r. neguth votes aye ms. mcbath votes aye. mr. stanton votes aye. s. dean votes aye. ms. escobar votes aye. mr. collins votes no. mr. sensenbrenner votes no. chavitt votes no. mr. gomert votes no. mr. jordan votes no. mr. buck votes no. mr. radcliffe votes no.

ms. roby votes no. mr. gates votes no. mr. johnson of louisiana votes no. no.biggs votes mr. mcclintock votes no. ms. lesko votes no. esenthaler votes no. mr. klein votes no. mr. armstrong votes no. mr. steube votes no. thes that every member of committee who wishes to vote, voted? clerical report? s and 17hairman, 23 aye nos. >> members will have two days to

submit views. the resolution will be reported as a single amendment. without objection, staff is authorized to make technical and -- changes. -- chairman, chairman. i give notice to file dissenting views. >> without objection, the committee is adjourned. host: let's go to your telephone calls and see what you think about the house judiciary committee's decision to file impeachment charges against president trump. christian, with calling from phoenix, arizona on the republican line. caller: good morning. thank you so much for taking my call. theknow, the idea that president of the united states does not have the power that is vested in him, which is in sections one and wo,ion to -- section teo

section two, the first four power.he shall have he shall have power. cingular. one man, one individual has the power of the executive. when i hear these democrats talking about how the president don't know the constitution or, we are following the constitution -- excuse me, you are one half of article one. you did not take the senate in 2018. you do not have article ii, president donald j. trump, and you are not article iii. what you need to do as someone who opposes this president is to actually tone down your rhetoric, tone down your attack andnst 63 million people

come to the realization that you lawson election in 2016, you did not take the senate, therefore the president and his vested , he shallrticle ii have power to make treaties, he shall have power to appoint ambassadors, and he shall have to have the foreign policy that he wants to have. it ain't the foreign policy of some other bureaucrat, some other ambassador, some other foreign service officer, some other director or some lower-level lt. col. the president does not answer their own people, the answer to him. host: let's go to eric, calling from california on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, mr. jesse holland, and thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to call, i will vote for trump, and i wanted to comment on the fact when they showed the live feed of joe biden withholding $1 billion

unless they fired i think it was the attorney general, he did that on live tv, and that is the part that is complete bribery. fortrump is doing is asking one thing. president zelensky ran on anticorruption. president trump is just asking thenvestigate them on corruption that they did. think you for my comment and i appreciate you so much, jesse holland. to cam, calling from indiana on the democratic line. ken, good morning. caller: i think the impeachment should go through and trump should be removed from office. that is obvious for someone who is a democrat, but the facts of the matter should lead everyone to this conclusion. trump is clearly a corrupt criminal and should never have

been in the white house. the specific acts related to ukraine make that abundantly clear. he plans this whole issue. it is more than a phone call. everyone comments it is just a phone call, but it is withh olding of the funds, the denigration of the ambassador that was right all he working through anticorruption measures in ukraine -- he worked to get that woman's job eliminated and tarnished during the process. and people. i do not understand how there is one single individual that of the understand -- that doesn't understand that he shouldn't be impeached -- that he should be impeached and removed from ce.i those two callers were very disappointing, very uninformed about what the power of the presidency is. remember, we as an independent country left a monarchy left so we could have -- left a monarchy

so we could have a constitutional republic. so we could substitute the constitution for a king, and trump is overrunning all of that. that should horrify all american citizens. thank you. gary, calling to from sterling, virginia on the republican line. good morning. caller: thank you. good morning jesse, i don't believe i've ever talked to you, but i have always appreciated your commentary. i have been really impressed, even though you are relatively new. about qpq or bribery, extortion, impeachment for that, i find all that irrelevant ocause last months november 11 -- last month on november 11 i went to bed thinking the mueller report had

been put to bed, i would be doing yard work or something tomorrow, but around 3:30, 4:00 tomorrow morning i started hearing about how we had withdrawn our support from the kurds. i thought that was really terrible, because when george bush withdrew his support in afghanistan, i thought, mr. trump must have thought that was a really good idea. that turned out really well. so you know, everybody believes that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, doing the same thing over and over again is the definition of insanity, so why would he just go ahead and do the same thing that pushed did -- that bush did? dry drunk or does he have the spine of a jellyfish?

i can't understand this. really distressing. it's a sign of insanity to do this. let's go today and, calling from georgetown, massachusetts on the independent , calling from georgetown, massachusetts on the independent line. good morning. good morning. thank you for having me on. i think despicable is an appropriate word for this. you know, a lot of people deny this state thing -- this deep state thing, but it is staring us right in the face. it is glaring. , quickly, tell us what you mean by deep state. ok, i'm talking about people, unelected people in the government who have been there for a long time that kind of

overshadowed the will of the and they kind of seemed to have some power over people iraq,gress, so the war in afghanistan -- you know, we are seeing. know, trump got elected on draining the swamp, right? the swamp, a lot of people could see state.s the deep this impeachment process against the president is a defensive move by the democrats, who the evidence tells is collaborating with the deep state to take down president. if we look over a series of years, the government has gained --much power over the people let's just pick a date.

2001, our government has been on a rampage to gain power and control over its people. propagandanstituted laws where they can use their tax money to propagandize and lie to us. we see it every day. they are covered by law. , ok? trump sad state went in there to try to fix this mess and you know what? the people are fighting back and fighting back for their lives, because a lot of them have committed high treason and they are using their power to not get busted. host: let's go to betty, calling from virginia beach, virginia. betty, good morning. caller: yes, good morning. thank you for taking my call, and i just want to say that i am very, very happy about them voting for the impeachment.

i can't wait until the whole house votes for the impeachment. i wish there were more charges that they could have put up there, but i guess they were afraid that they might lose some otherats if they had articles, and he is the most corrupt president in history and these republicans make me sick to my stomach, the enablers, i call them, for doing what they are doing. just one other quick thing i , i want mr. trump to nationality and olive that -- who is he to say something like all of that? my allegiance is to the united states of america and i support israel, but i am an

american. host: house speaker nancy pelosi came out and talked to reporters on thursday, defending the narrow scope of the articles of impeachment. here is what speaker pelosi had to say. [video clip] there are only two articles of impeachment. the president says [inaudible] >> the president is wrong. that is all i have to say. we have put forward our articles of impeachment, and six committees have been working on this for a very long time. stressed about it, but it is urgent. so we will be bringing the articles, the committee will work on it today. i do not know if it is this morning or this afternoon, it depends on the pace in the committee, and next week. you yourself accused him of bribery. why did you decide not to make bribery one of the articles of impeachment?

>> i myself am not a lawyer. sometimes i act like one. like a doctor, i practice medicine on the side without the benefit of a diploma too. was recommended by our attorneys. the articles are what they are. they are powerful, they are very they are the continuation of a pattern of man's behavior on the part of the president. host: let's look at some of the texts we have been getting on the topic of the judiciary committee filing impeachment charges against president trump. that says from bob personally, i think it is a purely political move because of the straight partyline vote. it is not an impeachment, it is a hit job, a hoax and travesty of justice that speaker pelosi will regret in 2020. here's one from bill that says

it is not sad that the system works. this man must be shown the limit of power or shown the door. not sad. glad congress stepped up to stop this chaotic, out-of-control man. are talking this morning about the house judiciary committee's decision to improve impeachment charges against president trump. let's go back to our phone lines calling fromaul, fort lauderdale, florida on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. think it's a foregone conclusion that the impeachment will be passed by the house. there's all kinds of defections coming through. tulsi gabbard the latest one. i think joe manchin is also against it, and there are very good reasons for that. number one, the obstruction of congress article has basically been ruled unconstitutional by the supreme court because it the supreme court is thinking of

donald trump's withholding of his taxes. the supreme court is basically saying that donald trump could come to the supreme court and find out if he has to comply with what the house is requesting. that is out. john roberts will throw that out the minute it hits the senate, so that is a waste of time. host: hold on. what do you think john roberts is going to throw out when he hit the senate? -- when it hits the senate? caller: the obstruction of congress article. not: the supreme court has option on that. the supreme court does not have an option to throw out impeachment charges. there will be a trial and john roberts will be the judge of that trial, and he will decide if there is an unconstitutional article being presented. he is going to throw that out

the minute he hears it. actually, the supreme court chief justice does not have that option in the senate. everything in the senate impeachment charges will be done vote.ate he is basically serving in a ceremonial role, so he would not have the option to do that. all of that is going to be done by senate vote. caller: i think you are wrong about that, but the other thing, , soar as abuse of power hunter biden is working for a corrupt company. his father stops the investigation of that corrupt company. what is donald trump supposed to do? this guy is running for president and he is supposed to not tell the american people about what is going on with the corruption in that area? give me a break. he cannot disregard that. it is the senate's duty to

inform the american public if there is a corrupt person running for president. [inaudible] let's go to mike, calling from orlando, florida on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. first, i want to thank you for correcting me in caller -- correcting the caller before me on how impeachment works. trump kool-aid drinkers do not understand how congress works. back to my question. i would like to see more investigation, not just running a quick impeachment through the senate. all the people who have defied the congress to peanut orders to comments testify. if mr. trump has nothing to hide -- congress subpoena orders to come and testify. if mr. trump has nothing to hide, then throw the people out there who have been subpoenaed. let them show that if he has

done nothing wrong, prove it. if you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. one more thing, jesse. aey said that mr. trump had record in tweets yesterday, 123 -- is that correct? host: that i don't know. caller: i think it was 123. i saw it on there one thing to think about. is a math problem. oneou are tweeting and each is over 140 characters, that is two to three minutes per tweet. he is spending five to six hours per day tweeting on the phone? that is insane. he is supposed to be the president of the united hates working for the people and the country, not -- united states working for the people and the country, not like a 15-year-old who cannot give up his cell phone. -- when it comes to the house vote coming up this week.

according to the washington post web count so far, they have who have73 democrats said they are ready to support both articles of impeachment. , 60embers of the house democrats and one republican, have not said how they feel about one or both articles of impeachment, and 197 members of republicans and one democrat, have said they oppose both articles of impeachment. vote will be the taken later on this week in the house of representatives. tocourse, you will be able watch full coverage of that on c-span, c-span radio, and of -- ofn the c-span course on the c-span app. let's go talk to margaret, in

indiana on the democrat line. they are saying trump drain the swamp -- yeah, he drained it because he brought it with him. if you look at everybody around him, try to tell me he is supposed to be running the country, but everyone around him doing this crap and he don't know about it? come on now, let's look at it for what it is. they did not give him delete power. number one, trump did not win the popular vote, because he is so confident about everyone trying to kick him out. he is trying to kick his own self-doubt. he destroys everything that he everything. i do not care if he is a democrat or republican. if you done something wrong, you need to pay for it. it is that simple. all these people calling in, i wonder what they are going to say when their kids take over and they start doing this crap. rita, calling to

from jacksonville, alabama on the independent line. rita, good morning. caller: wake up, world. these people, insofar as trump, they worship him as a god. if you see anybody that opens their mouth, everything that comes out of it is a lie. he has corrupted this world completely. thank you. to lewis, calling from augusta, georgia on the democratic line. lewis, good morning. caller: good morning, america. this message is for our republican americans. we are all americans and it is clear this president is corrupt from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. we all know that. i am from new york and we know this here. this atlantic city nonsense, his ties with the mob, and now with russia. keep this in mind, america --

68,000 american young men and women were killed in vietnam. 8000 in korea. they were killed with russian 37,000, 38,000 in korea. they were killed with russian now bringinghe is them all over the white house? give me a break. they ought to be in jail. faith, calling from sanford, north carolina on the republican line. good morning. caller: [inaudible] host: are you there? caller: yes. host: go ahead. caller: president trump has not done anything wrong. at all. wronghasn't done anything and he has brought millions of jobs to the united states. let's go to serra, calling

from edgewater, maryland on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to tell you that i think that president trump will be reelected. i am not a supporter of his, but i do believe he will be reelected. what we get from congress is pointless [inaudible] corruption in both parties. you ha a previous caller who talked about the deep state, and i believe that is absolutely true. one of the things that bothers me more than anyone else is to read in the washington post about three administrations from president bush, to president obama to president trump andinuing the corruption lies of wars in the middle east that have cost this country $1 trillion or more and will continue with another $1 trillion in the next probably however many years we will be engaged in there.

not one member of the congress, from the republicans to the democrats, are doing anything to out the flow of money on wars and nationbuilding and the corruption is so deeply seated that we do not have money here for affordable health care. we do not have money for the poor, we do not have money for infrastructure. it is all pointless theater. sarah, i'm curious about this definition this morning. when you say deep state, who are you talking about? federal government employees you -- employees? forces i'm talking about and powers behind closed doors that have so much influence that the government listens to them more than the american people. you can call it special interests -- you are talking about lobbyists, not federal government employees. caller: in the government, you have government officials that

are behind closed doors, talking strategy and seeing billions of dollars being literally dumped into the middle east, knowing very well that it is not going anywhere. i remember years ago when they first disclosed that the united states government spends billions of dollars in the middle east, and that money was actually spent to finance and help pay the terrorists that were fighting our own troops. that is what i am talking about. how can that even be a reality in today's world, that our government is engaged, you know, in that kind of -- i mean, to me this is insane. this is absolutely insane. parties, theh democrats and the republicans, have absolutely done nothing to put an end to this.

endless, draining money -- talk about draining the swamp? my god, we should drain the swamp in congress, get rid of all of them, and get a new president on top of that. host: house minority leader kevin mccarthy spoke with reporters on wednesday as to how he saw the policy of impeachment and playing out in the house of representatives. here is what kevin mccarthy had to say. >> the more the democrats lay on the case, the weaker their pace becomes. the president's case against those running against him have fallen. 31ernally, you have democrats that sit in seats that president trump carried. their numbers have continued to drop. having spoken to democrats, i see the nervousness of what they have. their own internals, i have watched and then reported that they have had inside their own conferences arguments with their

leadership, they are not defending them. i watched bloomberg trying to get to a presidential nomination democrats, he just pledged $10 million for those democrats, to try to defend them. i think if they were winning, michael bloomberg would not have to give the democrats $10 million after he gave them $110 million in the last cycle to try and get the majority. that would be an indication they are having majority. -- having trouble. to elizabethalk from florida on the democrat line. caller: hi, good morning. go ahead. withr: i'm a young woman two children. i am college-educated, but i definitely did not take the normal american dream route to get where i am. apart from all of that, i think i am so much alike a lot of americans and i am so much

unlike a lot of americans, because i think something we all share together is that we really know right from wrong. starting from when we were born, we were taught right from wrong. we know, deep down in our hearts, what is right and what is wrong. in the last 100 years, we have culturally grown, meshed together. i am really proud of the my children were growing up in, the opportunities that they had to grow and see other cultures and to learn about just knew things. hings.t new t i think some of the changes i am seeing today, i am scared for the america my children are growing up in. i don't want to make a choice for people, but i want people to really look at the impact that we have, right? never in my 33 years have i seen just openly can

make racial slurs, slurs about women, really do mean people publicly, and we americans allow this. if you love one another, we go to church on sundays, whether you do or don't go to church, , you know from wrong that we have grown and we shouldn't backfire. this is the time to stand up. if you can only stand up in your home and make a vote and do what you can do, it is the time to do it now. this is the time to make a change and to be part of history and to do the right thing. read up,'s go to calling from boonville, north carolina on the republican line. rita, good morning. guest: good morning, thank you for taking my phone call. morning, thank you for taking my phone call. really reason they want to get rid of trump, he is about to let

everybody know how crooked they have been all the way back to obama and the bushes. when the report comes out, it will show how crooked and evil the democrats are. host: what report are you waiting on that is going to say this? caller: the big report that they are still working on? the 2000 are working on it now? they have not returned there report in yet -- they have not turned their report in yet. when it comes out, it is going to show how crooked obama was, to send all that money over to a foreign country in unmarked airplanes in the middle of the night. [inaudible] they didn't need help back then? they didn't need russia back then when he was in office? this is another thing to get trump out where he can't expose what they are doing, and it is going to hurt them. they are going to lose come 2020. host: let's go to rachel,

calling from amherst, massachusetts on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. my comment is as a citizen, there appears to be a propriety in that phone call. i'm sure a lawyer with constitutional knowledge could figure that out. seems like the democrats and the republicans are both not looking at the bigger issues and the bigger improprieties in this presidents regime -- president's regime. there are children dying on the border in concentration camps. there is an ecological crisis. why is he not being impeached? thank you for your time. president trump from the white house yesterday spoke about what he thought on the recent vote in the house judiciary committee on articles of impeachment. [video clip] here is what president trump had to say. witchhunt, a sham, a

hoax. zero was done wrong. thing, it is a horrible to be using the tool of impeachment, which is supposed to be used in an emergency. many, manyem many, years apart, they will be using this for a perfect phone call with the president of that country says there was no pressure whatsoever. did not even know what we were talking about. it was perfect. the relationship is perfect. i have done much more for them that obama did for them -- than obama did for them. it is a scam, it shouldn't be allowed, it is a very bad thing , and you arery trivializing impeachment. i will tell you, someday there will be a democrat president and a republican house, and i suspect they are going to remember it. host: let's go to constants, calling from virginia on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse.

trump is like the old servant that walkedserpent into the garden and beguiled those who would rather believe lies than the truth. days, tolds, in 1060 i think it is over 4000 lies. i is the next new yorker, -- and trump's yorker, agenda has always been divide and conquer, the art of the deal, and the bottom line of this impeachment thing is our voting rights. do we want a foreign country to decide who will be president of the united states? that is the bottom line. everybody seems to forget that. talks about process.

but it is not about that. it is about a vote for every citizen of the united states to who wend to the side want for a president. -- to decide who we want for a president. last election, they said russia interfered. trump stood on the lawn of the ukraine,se, he asked he asked to china, and was asked , i believe,oulos that if someone came to you with some information that would help you remain in the white house, would you accept it? his answer was yes. and when i looked at the line voting on, in the house the i looked on the republican side, everybody was lily white.

on the democratic side, that represents america. host: let's talk to dave, who was calling from bedford, new hampshire on the republican line. dave, good morning. caller: yes, hello. thank you for taking my call. i am for trump all the way. i mean, we all voted for trump and i guess you can call me a deplorable walmart shopper. host: are you still there, dave? caller: yes. host: keep going. are you done? caller: i can hear you for some reason. host: keep going, we can hear you. caller: this impeachment and stuff, i do not know where it is going and how it got there. i have been watching the news and i thinkall day you watch two different channels, you know?

you watch fox and you watch mbs c, you are getting two different stories. there is nothing right about the whole thing. don't knowur, and i why -- you would think the democrats are all just immigrants, and it is just not right. we should all get together and make the country great. think weould help, i have theve -- we best country. i don't know what is going on and i am really sick to my stomach over this and he is the best president that i have. that is all i have to say. thank you. , calling's talk to jim from clarksville, indiana on the independent line. jim, good morning. caller: good morning. i was last registered as a republican -- i am 67 years old, living right next to louisville, kentucky. that last guy, wow. i am right on the other side of

him. this is the worst president we have ever had in the history of my 67 years. theted for nixon at beginning of my voting career, and ended up supporting the democrats in the last election. anyway, what i was specifically .alling about, lt. col. vindman they had a special -- i think it was on rachel maddow's show on cnn, which i think is the best show there is, but they analyze his testimony in front of the judiciary committee. anyway, they are making a rule in the white house that they are going to limit the number of people that can be on these calls that trump was on with the ukraine president. now from what i can figure, there were 17 people, maybe up to 30 people on that call. he did what he did, which is

terrible. he's got to go, but our country is going to be ok, even if he gets three elected. -- gets reelected. we will be ok because we have survived over 200 years, and i am not worried about that. getwhat i am going to do is people who have never voted before at all to know voters -- who never voted -- to go out and vote against that man. now, i supported obama in 2008 and we took -- i say we as if i had a lot to do with it -- indiana win for obama in 2008. about 20,000 plus votes, and we got clobbered by trump in 2016. 2012, we got clobbered, obama smart man, obama, a lot smarter than what we have now. host: let's go to keith, calling from portsmouth, ohio on the

democrat line. good morning. caller: yes. i wanted to comment on the votes that they made in the democratic party. i am ashamed of them. they have had it out for poor trump since the get-go. and that was proof yesterday when they took the vote, that they are just totally out to get him. break in just a partisan party lines. i am ashamed to be a democrat. host: judiciary committee member atz spoke to reporters on friday, reacting to the vote on friday. here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> in the media, you should hold the democrats to a standard they set for themselves, not the standard a setback in 1998 when jerry nadler said impeachment would have to be supported by

substantially a bipartisan group to be legitimate. look at the standard they set for themselves a few months ago. democrats said that evidence would have to be overwhelming, but the evidence they presented has been hearsay, speculation, conjecture, or a policy disagreement on how to treat the ukraine. democrats promised after public hearing that there would be some newfound animated public support for impeachment. the reality is, they failed to meet their verdict. so now, with no bipartisanship -- in fact, the only bipartisan vote will be a bipartisan vote against impeachment with no direct evidence. with no enhanced public support for impeachment, democrats will continue to visit the opportunity costs for this division on our country. as republicans, we would like to work on infrastructure, on asylum reform, on policy changes that will actually impact the quality of life are our -- for ours constituents.

for democrats, if you commit is their drugs, their obsession, their total focus, and it is deeply disappointing that they failed to meet the standard they set for themselves. host: let's look at more texts and tweets before the top of the hour. this one text that says i am horrified that congress can call everything trump does a crime. so far, democrats have incited a code that identifies the crime. the impeachment is based on innuendo and fabrication. sondland try to spin regular workings into the state department into some plot. another that says thankfully and founders made impeachment -- thankfully the founders made impeachment difficult enough a couple hundred lunatic liberals can't override the will of 60 million americans. let's get a few more phone calls in and go to mitzi, calling from siloed springs, arkansas on the republican line.

good morning. thank you for being here. i have been watching washington journal since 1993. i'd did follow away from it which chuck todd was one of the hosts. it seems like i could not handle it then, but i want to thank you for being there. the emotionalism of these folks on the left, they don't really see fact, they just have this emotional reaction to president trump, they call him a 15-year-old girl, holding a gun to the heads of the people, one of those democrats in the impeachment implied the ukrainian russian, ukrainian re looked like he had his daughter duck taped in his basement. the popular vote or electoral college, that is the way our government is set up.

and you never hear fact, you that he is a liar. you hear that he is a 15-year-old girl. i tell you black folks out there, [inaudible] you hispanics out there, lowest unemployment for hispanics out there. look at what has happened to our country. we are strong again, our economy is pouring out, our military is strong. i wish the folks that hate trump so much could use some reasoning and not so much emotion. host: let's go to chris calling let'sanville virginia -- go to chris, calling from danville, virginia. caller: yes, the democrats have been saying they have an obligation to uphold and protect the constitution, yet they want to take out the first amendment, they want to do away with the second amendment and put stricter gun laws on law-abiding citizens. the besteither or

person on the field, they are the one i am voting for. it is total obstruction on the democrat side. has been caught lying under oath four different times. where is his impeachment papers? where is his resignation papers? ann, let's go to carol calling from mississippi. caller: how about that, you said it right. throw in a little french, how about that? yeah, i live in a red state and i am a true liberal. back when president obama, which a lot of people just call him obama, they did not give him his ability of

president obama, but he was our president. and since obama took office, wasn't it donnie trump that started the birther movement?the hate? the slinging words that he was not an american? wasn't that a tip of a knife that went in the back of our patriots in this country? who said donnie misogynistic things about women in this country? and isn't it donnie that has a cartoon name for everybody he , as he is throwing them under the bus through the revolving door at the white house. that once anie trump tower in saudi or -- wants a trump tower in saudi arabia moscow, turkey, north korea, china.

he is not making friends just to be friends and to be patriotic for america. it is all in greed, because that is his middle name. host: let's talk to james, calling from louisville, kentucky on the republican line. james, good morning. caller: first i want to thank you for taking my call, sir. i would like a lot of americans, whether you on the left, the right, or the middle, to look at areig report where we seeing a very, very scary thing happening. carter page was a cia asset and unknown friendly to america -- a known friendly to america. the probe started, he was known to be a friendly in 2013, and this is the fruit of the poison tree. that is all i have to say. host: let's go to john, calling from spillover springs, maryland -- silver springs, maryland on the democrat line. caller: good morning.

thank you for taking my call. the callers need to understand one thing -- i do not worship republicans or democrats. this is a country of law, and we follow what the law says here. 500 constitutional experts say the president has broken the law. three of them show up. one of them already agreed with the republicans they have. i think what we need to understand is, we are not worshiping donald trump. donald trump has done a lot of things wrong and he knew it. the problem is for my fellow americans -- we are americans. we are all americans and we need to understand before party, america comes first. believe me. i am an immigrant who came to this country in 1980. if there is a heaven on this earth, it will be america. you have to understand that. you don't know what you have. you keep talking about democrats and republicans. ity are fox and wolf, and

does not matter which way you go, they will bite you. you need to understand, we do not worship the president, we do not worship congress, we are a country of law and we need to respect our constitution. that is the bottom line. we would like to thank all of our callers, tweeters, and our texters this morning for joining in the conversation. up next, we will take a look at veterans issues with votevets' , and later we .ill be joined by craig shirley stick with us, we will be right >> the studentcam 2020 competition is in full swing. middle and high school students are at work making sure documentaries that they would --

short documentaries they won candidates for 2022 address. we would love to see your progress, take us behind the scene and share your programs -- your photos for a chance to win additional cash prizes. we have resources on our website to help out if you're working on an idea. our getting started page has information to guide you through the process of making a documentary. c-span will award $100,000 in total cash prizes. all eligible entries must be received by midnight. >> 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 and let your voice be heard now. go to more information, our website. studentcam.org. sunday night on key wednesday, a professor of medicine at columbia university talks about her book, the first

cell and the human cost of pursuing cancer to the last. be proclaiming victory from the rooftops, that we have gone from having a universal death sentence to curing 68% of cancers today, and only 22% of people die. but with both groups, the tradable in the nontradable, i ask a fundamental question -- the treatable and the nontradable, the people you're curing, my 60%, my frustration is why are we still using these neolithic approaches of/, poison, and burn. poison, and burn. where has $2 billion of research gone? why are we not finding better ways of treating cancer? q&a.nday night on c-span >> washington journal continues.

host: we are back with will goodwin, the government relations director of his organization. good morning. is.t, tell us what votevets we represent more than 700,000 mentor -- members across the country committed to using our voices and perspectives as people who have served and families who have served to help build a better, stronger, and more just america. we do that by electing democratic veterans to office. we help elevate national security and veterans issues. and we advocate on behalf of our members here in washington to help in that progressive, national security, and veterans policy. host: where you get your funding? guest: we receive funding from a broad coalition of folks.

donations,ve larger and a lot of grassroots supporters. more than a hundred thousand have helped us raise several million dollars. it's all people who believe that the veteran perspective matters, and military families on both sides of the isles have not had their voices heard in american politics in a way they should have. if we elevate those voices not only do we bring in that kind of shared service perspective, people who have served with folks across the country who understand what it is like to rely on fellow service members , is a healthyife perspective to elevate in our politics. and the issues that matter to veterans, military families, would receive the attention that they deserve. looking at the warring afghan against -- the war in

afghanistan, continuing to support veteran programs. the more we elected to office, the better life will be for everyone who has worn a uniform. host: does your group only support democratic candidates or is it a multiparty? guest: we support democrats who are running. there are good stats report -- groups that support republican veterans. organizehe issues we around are aligned with allies on democratic -- on the democratic side and progressives because we believe that those are in line with the needs of veterans and their families. strengthening labor, ensuring that v.a. employees are receiving the training and benefits they deserve helps deliver better care to veterans of all political affiliations. that's one example of how we operate. host: recently, your group endorsed mayor pete buttigieg

for the democratic presidential nomination, what makes him the best choice for the white house? guest: we were excited about this. the first time we have endorsed in a presidential primary, because mayor pete has served, we believe he's ready to lead on we are excited about the generational change he represents. and the vision he is laying out not only to defeat donald trump in november but to move the country forward, pass this fractured moment in history. as i mentioned, we believe that electing veterans brings people into office who have a shared understanding of their fellow american, and who have served the country before and have put country over party because the mission comes first for those who serve in the u.s. military. with pete, we are also excited about the vision he's laid out for the future. not just the selection but the decisions that we make in the next four years and how that

affects the next 40. it's an inspirational, aspirational message that we believe will help here at home but also will help restore america's place in the world. we are excited about that, and it matters to our members. who better to end the war in afghanistan than someone who has served in it? who better to care for veterans than somebody who wore the uniform? we are excited to be on team pete, we will help win the primary and support him as he wins the general election in november. host: another candidate for the democratic nomination, tulsi gabbard had support. how difficult was the choice buttigieg?bard and guest: she's an example of the work we've been doing since 2006, going into democratic primaries were a veteran

candidate may not have the institutional backing that other candidates have, and helping them win and make it through the general election. but one of the important questions for us is is the person in a position to come out and win the contest? in this case, mayor pete is in the top tier, he's in a four-way tossup race to be the democratic nominee. and our support could really make a difference and the voices of our members can make a difference in this primary. to theadn't come decision of we will endorsed? is it a vote by the members? is it made by the executive council? one of the things that makes us unique is that we have a shared set of values. similar to when folks serve in the military. our members who participate in a

variety of ways, from contributing to the organization and engaging with us on social most with one of the robust national media security presence on the internet, they buy into those decisions that way. but just because of the way that these decisions were, unfortunately, we cannot hold a vote on something of this magnitude. but that's our job, to take the needs and the concerns of our members across the country and weigh them against what's happening in a political race and make an endorsement. we have been thrilled by how supportive our members are of this decision. some of them are supporting other candidates for the nomination, but when they talk to us about that they understand this endorsement, and even if they are supporting another candidate, they want to see a veteran who is young, who has served overseas as part of the

conversation. i think we are excited. host: let's let our viewers take part in this conversation. we are opening special lines this morning for this conversation. our first line is for veterans, if you are a veteran of the u.s. armed forces we want to hear from you especially, your number .s (202) 748-8000 we will open another line for active military, if you are an active member of our u.s. armed forces, we want to open a special line to you, that line is (202) 748-8001. if you are not a veteran and not in active military service, we still want to hear from you, if you do not fit in those first two categories your number is (202) 748-8002. once again veterans, (202) 748-8000. .ctive military, (202) 748-8001

.veryone else, (202) 748-8002 and we are always reading your (202) 748-8003. you can also reach us on social media, on twitter and facebook. will, what you think is the most important issue that veterans see in this upcoming democratic primary, then in the general election? guest: i think there are a lot of issues that matter to veterans, servicemembers members, and their families. a couple of that to buckets. on the national security front, we saw some shocking revelations about the or in afghanistan. -- the war in afghanistan. that senior political and sendmatic officials

americans to fight in afghanistan despite believing it's unwinnable. bringing that war to an end is a top priority and has been since we have been founded. we are concerned about the rest of the picture with national security. president trump has taken actions that have destabilized things in iran, and he walked away from the iran nuclear deal that was helping us to prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon. we fought hard in this last congress to make clear that the take americated to towards offense of military action with iran, he needs authorization to do so. when we look at the veterans and military family picture, primitive veterans affairs has been weak and since president trump has come into office. he is allowed political appointee warfare, chaos, and failed nominations to come before veteran care. we don't need leaders who are going to go against veterans and try to dismantle the v.a.. we need leaders who strengthen the v.a. who help fill a

provider shortage, to address the veteran suicide epidemic that continues to grow year over year. and when it comes to military families, president trump has used military families to fulfill his own domestic political aims. taking money away from military construction projects for schools and classrooms to build his racist border wall. it's also targeting individuals like the transgender service members. thousands of them and their families thrown into disarray for no reason because of the presidents hate. and immigrant serving in the military left to worry about the citizenship status of their children, born while they are stationed overseas. of issues wide bucket that matter to veteran service members and their families. our job is to elevate them and make them part of the conversation because democrats

need to talk about this issue. we need to talk about this once we win the white house back and everyone should be talking about those issues from a position of strength. of theet's look at one advertisements running right now. let's take a quick look. [video clip] >> he's been called one of the most effective members of the u.s. senate. he served in the navy reserve and after the september 11 attacks volunteered to serve again. gary peters voted to get our troops the payraise they deserved and worked to keep it safe. >> we should not even be thinking about democratic ideas and republican ideas, just ideas that are good for the country. and ideas that are great for michigan. >> thanked gary peters and tell him to keep fighting for michigan. host: tell us about that ad. guest: this is a great example of taking an elected official who has served, gary peters, and talking about how he has worked in the senate on issues.

example substantive at --ad example. issues like the environment, and helping a leader like him, who is facing a tough reelection. , he is veteran representing progressive national security and veterans values. host: let's let our viewers take part in this conversation. let's talk to dr. butler, from portsmouth, virginia, dr. butler is a veteran. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm calling about access to medical care. virginia has a tax credit, not a tax deduction, for doctors, dentists, and lawyers help indigent people. if this were to be adopted not only by the other states and

commonwealths, but also by the congress, it would help everybody in our country. this issue is parallel to what you just mentioned, which is the state of the v.a. hospitals, and the question of whether to have a separate system or not is a about which i'm not an expert to comment. but i have been treated at both private hospitals and the v.a., and i'm pleased with the care in both systems. but this virginia law as a good thing for all americans, it helps everyone of us to get the care we need. thank you dr. butler for your service. you raise some good points. when it comes to caring for veterans, this is about everyone working together. that means the federal government, state government, those of us in the community and

those of us no longer serving. one of the reasons that the v.a. system is so important is because often times, when veterans experience medical conditions that are connected to their service, those are externalities that may not be recognized by a doctor who is not used to treating a patient who served in the military. so somebody comes in with a , and the v.a. doctor is able to connect that back to agent orange exposure in vietnam, ensuring the veteran is receiving care at the expense of the federal government because it's connected to their service. you bring up great points about caring for veterans and strengthening the v.a. system. it should be important to all of us the selection. gave once again, votevets an endorsement to mayor pete buttigieg. one of the things that pete buttigieg has a doubt is a 21 page plan for democratic veterans.

the las vegas review journal actually covered some of this, i'm going to read a little bit on what it says. the 21 page plan includes well covered ground within the democratic field, including increased funding for the department of veterans affairs, simplifying the benefits process , improving access to vocational training in mental health services, and ending the transgender military band, but it also addresses more specific issues that buttigieg says he noticed during his service in the navy like improving the quality and availability of childcare on basis, elevating more women to officer positions, and increasing rights were military members. what's her reaction to the plan that mayor pete buttigieg will put in place if he becomes president? we think he has a great plan for america's military families. that's where it starts, how we treat people while they are serving on active duty. when we look at the family

issues that people face during service, access to childcare is a huge one. making sure that families with special care -- special needs children can receive the educational and health care that those children need on their base or nearby. it is important that mayor pete is broadening this conversation and bringing military family issues into the fold and talking about how we care for the people who serve our country. fundamentally, personnel is everything when it comes to the strength of the military. strongitary is only us -- is only as strong as the family members and service members who serve your after year. this is important and we are excited to see it. and it's a 21 page plan, mayor pete wants to get specific and talk about what he will do when he's the democratic nominee and president of the united states. that matters to service members and their family -- their families. john, activealk to

military from washington, d.c., what's your branch? guest: i'm in the army. i don't want to blow your mind too much, but i think you are the regimental commander when i was a cadet at west point. but that's not what i'm calling about. i just finished reading general jim mattis's book, he writes a lot about how the united states gas been receiving -- recedin from its leadership roles in international institution, he writes about the obama administration and the united states taking a step back when we did not act on the redline in syria. but he also outlines what seems to be going on in the current administration, where the united states has been very critical and not supportive of some of our most important institutions like nato. i'm curious on what votevets,

or where mayor pete stands on our involvement on the global stages. as a member of the military i'm concerned about us taking a leadership role and working with allies. guest: absolutely. thank you for your question. important football game happening in philadelphia that army is going to win. host: what's the score going to be? somethingy form the -- fortysomething, navy zero. but this is an important question john. the experiment works the other way with president trump, who does not understand the importance of alliances, standing up for our friends, and how to use the entirety of the national security toolkit at the

president's disposal. when we talk about heather's big decisions on the world stage affect military leaders, mattis himself and others have said that when we cut money from the state department budget, when we don't invest in diplomacy and aid, we are saying we are going to buy more bullets and employ foru.s. military to step in the reasons that the situation surrounding impeachment and with the president in ukraine is so problematic. because we use military aid, and diplomacy, to make sure the u.s. military does not have to get engaged in those conflicts. that is something mayor pete has talked about, restoring america's role in the world. and other democratic candidates have done the same. we need to get back to the place where we value our allies, and where the president demands enough respect that he's not being left out of overseas conferences like we saw just last week in europe.

that restoration of american leadership on the world stage is important and has a direct impact on the lives of people like you were serving our country, and the families who serve with you. thank you. host: let's talk to tonya, from west point, georgia, she's a veteran. good morning. caller: good morning. beingl for veterans president because we need to reestablish our respect on the world stage. but the questions that pete iftigieg has not answered, you could answer the questions on how blacks were treated in his state. but i'm all for veteran, because we have always needed a veteran to be president and represent the world on the world stage. thank you. guest: thank you for the question. i think anybody who has been

watching this campaign over the last several months has seen mayor pete making a concerted effort to go meet with african-american elected officials and voters to hear about the issues that matter to them, their priorities, and he is explaining the policies he has laid out to make sure that all american are -- all americans are represented by our president. that's part of the way the system is built, we expect our elected officials to represent the interests of their fellow citizens who come from different life experiences, or have a different perspective. if the job of candidates and elected leaders to show that they can empathize with people who may not have the same experience that they did. that's true for mayor pete as he works to build relationships with african-american voters, but that's the same concept, elizabeth warren needs to represent the needs of lg tv --

b americans, etc.. we are excited about expanding how mayor pete plans will benefit all americans. plan,aid out in intensive the ductless plan, talking about housing,s in hbcu's, affordability, equity, and health care. i would encourage you to take a look at his website and learn more about that. and you will see that we at votevets, we will talk about what it means to serve alongside folks from every corner of the country and every back round, which is a perspective that pete brings as a veteran and we believe it will help them connect with voters of all backgrounds, and races. host: let's talk about afghanistan, it's been in the news. this week, newsmakers interviewed the top republican on the house armed services

committee, mac thornberry of texas. he talked about the u.s. trip presence in afghanistan, here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> i believe based on good information that there is a significant terrorist threat in afghanistan that threatens our homeland. so before we pull the plug and say ok, nevermind, we are done, we better figure out a way that the terrorist threat against our homeland is going to be addressed. mind, you can watch that full interview on c-span tomorrow at 10:00 and 6:00. now, i want you to react to art representative thornberry had to say. we've heard a lot of talk about afghanistan, especially out of the washington post. what's your reaction to what's going on in afghanistan and with this issue. guest: sure, let's be clear about what we learned about the afghanistan papers.

senior military, diplomatic, and political officials have been misleading the american public for 18 years regarding our involvement in afghanistan. they are taking events on the ground and trying to put as much spin, and twisting them to justify a continued u.s. trip presence when we cannot define, if you listen to the congressman, what he did not address is what is our national security interest in afghanistan that is achievable through the use of the u.s. military in a setting that does not leave us there indefinitely and continue to cost us american lives year-over-year? he's at odds with a lot of members of his own party. there is bipartisan consensus, president trump ran on a platform of withdrawing troops from afghanistan. and it's really disappointing to hear it from somebody who has such an important leadership role on the armed services committee, the thornberry logic flawed way ofn

thinking about this conflict. if you listen to his words, it would justify an indefinite u.s. troop presence in afghanistan. when you go through the documents released last week, officials from both parties, across three administrations are telling us that this is not working. the war is not winnable. there's not a sustainable way forward with afghanistan. and we have invested $2 trillion into this conflict on reconstruction efforts alone we have spent $133 billion in afghanistan. that's more we spent at the world war ii when you adjust for inflation to rebuild the entirety of western europe. it's money that the afghan government cannot absorb because the corruption is 70. -- is so deep. and this plays out in washington with no progress, americans are

dying. we are losing service members every month in afghanistan. it doesn't make the news the way a lot of us believe it should, but it's unacceptable that there are american servicemembers will be over skate -- overseas in afghanistan for the holidays. and families without their loved ones over the next few weeks as we celebrate the holidays. and they know that that commitment is part of a war is unwinnable. and one that leaders say should come to an end. they cannot seem to get there and they need to. from let's go to richard, grove city, ohio. good morning. caller: hello. i'm curious about one thing, congresswoman kelsey -- tulsi almost gets no coverage, they tend to ignore her on the

media. night whenn monday three reporters on the pbs newshour were basically talking about all the women that were running for office, and the only person they did not mention was tulsi gabbard. the weird thing about that is that at some point in time pbs .s supposed to do a debate if they are going to go into the debate with that kind of attitude and totally ignore that person running, i don't know it's fair about that process. in the other thing you mentioned about pete buttigieg, he apparently takes a lot of pac money, and i think that he's about person at this time. gabbard does not do that, she takes it from individual donors and she is still active military. so you tell me why in the world she is ignored?

she's a major, she's a veteran, she served overseas. do you have any answers to any of this? guest: sure. as we discussed earlier, votevets help support congresswoman gabbard when she ran for office. i think that she has received a significant amount of attention, she has an online following that has allowed her to communicate with supporters and she has been on the debate stage. the other question you asked about support or disagreeing with that fundamentally, mayor ofe has built a ton grassroots support across the country and is receiving contributions from everyday people across the country to help fuel his campaign. and fundamentally when it comes to the way that we has democrats approach this primary, we have two options. we can divide and go negative and make this about personal

attacks against individual candidates, or we can talk about why we like her candidates. -- our candidates. you talked about why you are supporting representative gabbard, that's the right way to do this. we value mayor pete's military service and the leadership that he has shown in south bend. our support against him -- our support with him is not a knock against anyone else. youverybody is engaged like are and keeps focusing on why your candidate is the best and why they deserve the nomination, we will be in a better place as a party. we have to come together once we have a nominee and we have to work united to defeat donald trump. thank you. host: let's talk to devin tour -- davatore, a veteran. what branch did you serve? caller: i was in the army. i was in vietnam for two tours, i came back permanently

disabled. the problem we are right now having, i'm so tired about hearing impeachment because a man can be driven out of office already. [indiscernible] i've personally worked with the man and he is two-faced, but why i'm calling is that we, as veterans, need to get a better card to use at medical places where we live instead of traveling all these miles, we need something better than what we have. votevets work on medical issues for veterans? or does it work on the political spectrum? work to elects

leaders who care about people like the gentleman who called. we believe the right way to provide quality care to every veteran is to strengthen the v.a. and to make sure that access is easier. that the handoff from active duty military service and the department of defense's medical system into the v.a. is flawless . and going back to help folks who for one reason or another, whether they were discharged under don't ask don't tell before that law was repealed, have full access to health services. that goes for folks who have experienced military sexual trauma as well, and making sure that every veteran has access to a v.a. doctor. there is a web of care that has been built and we work strongly in the believe that the nurses, doctors, and other providers are the best people with the right experience to care for our nation's veterans.

we will continue to push the president and back up congressional democrats as they were to invest in the v.a. system. adt: we saw the gary peters , and you have endorsed mayor buttigieg for the democratic nomination. are you getting involved in any other races around the country? host: absolutely! we are involved in a ton of important house and senate races. we have played an important role in the past, and it will have a bigger impact than ever when it comes to the 2020 election had -- elections. we are looking at key senate and house races where our unique voice and ability to connect ,ith voters across the spectrum different facets of the democratic party and independents and republicans that can break through. there are some candidates leading the way for the democratic party on our website, mark kelly in arizona is running against appointed senator martha

rejectedthe voters when they elected senator kyrsten sinema last go around. , calrth carolina cunningham, a major in the u.s. army reserve is running a great campaign to unseat thom tillis, who has been a real disappointment to veterans and military families. he has an important seat on the senate armed services committee and when president trump decided to rip way military construction funding from fort bragg he refused to hold the president accountable and fight for his constituents. in the house, boat -- votevets works to help max rose, mikey wo in someple who in somestricts -- won tough districts. we will have their backs, and we will work to send them some

reinforcements, and with terrific candidates like jean ortiz jones in texas, we have seen the power at a time when president trump controls the white house, republicans controlled the senate, and america's place as a leader in the world is at risk and our national security is at risk, the voices of veterans and military families, politically engaged and serving as elected officials is more important than it has ever been. host: let's call -- let's talk to mark, a veteran from florida, what branch did you serve in? caller: i was in the marine corps. good morning. wanted to thank you for the work that you have done with votevets. i think it's a bit of an organization that's been veterans for peace from a

historic standpoint, not directly related but that's the look aton i get when we the iraq and afghanistan experience, unfortunately. i wanted to call and ask will, if he did not mind explaining the privatization of the v.a. and how dangerous it is that it could be sold by political persuasions that we do not support, and could eventually be sold to another corporation which is not even american-based. in other words, could you imagine going through the v.a. and being treated by corporation owned by the chinese government or the russians? and i would like to close with , i became a union carpenter and we have --,

if you could touch on that. host: i will start with your last point, helmets to hardhats. one of the reasons that votevets work so closely with allies in the labor movement is that labor and unions are critical to ensuring that every american has access to a job that pays well, provides for advancement, and takes care of people with benefits that they and their families deserve, to live the american dream. it's really important that we help create a channel and continue to provide opportunities for veterans as they leave the military to find a good union job. if you are an air force mechanic , working on boeing planes, you should be able to find a good union job as an airline mechanic working on similar aircraft's. i could not stress how supportive we are of those

efforts and how much we value our brothers and sisters in the labor movement created to your first point on the privatization of the v.a., you hit on some really important components of it. people might not know that the push to privatize has been funded by a lot of corporate interests who want money. they want to make a profit off of veterans. they are willing to compromise the quality of care that veterans received to make that happen. we see it in the trump administration, where president trump had corporate executives who were members of his golf opinions andtheir corporate interests onto the v.a. secretary directly. they had an open channel to do it. we believe in strengthening the v.a., we don't think veterans should be looked at as a way to make a quick buck. veterans and their health care, it should be about caring for veterans and family members. when we distract from that and we push towards a profit motive,

it skews our ability as a nation to care for those who have worn the uniform. stefon, fromo to king george, virginia, you are a veteran, what branch did you serve in? caller: i served in the army. i would agree with most of what you said. also you should look at tri-care, which is what the military retirees has. the co-pay for us to go to a civilian doctor has tripled since the 2018 authorization budget. and last year they voted to remove our dental plan. we have to go with a more expensive federal plan now. i agree with you, the v.a. should be strengthened, but they should also look at tri-care. guest: that's a great point. thank you for your service. when we look at the pentagon

budget, the challenges that our defense leaders are trying to address moving forward, the cost of health care and other benefits is an area where they have looks to cut money. we don't share that view at vote we believe in investing in military families and providing the best possible benefits is critical to enable service members and their families to do their jobs, and the retirees who have earned those benefits, to look back fondly on their military service. this is not just an issue of this is about recruiting and retaining the best people to serve in the u.s. military. one of the ways we do that is to offer benefits, especially to retirees that incentivize people to serve a career in uniform. once people retire from the military and we have paid those promises, we owe it to them. because we are spending plenty

of money on our defense budgets on airplanes and ammunition and other defense industrial base priorities. personnel, the people who wear the uniform, are the ultimate source of strength in the u.s. military and we cannot cut their benefits back. host: we would like to thank will goodwin, but before we let you go, you are a west point grad, give us the score today, the one hundred 20th army. .uest: at point spread for army were gonna call it big. it's gonna be a great game in philadelphia. one quick thing about the game. militarye in the community follow army-navy, we like to say it's more than a game. this is about the men and women across all the branches of the military who put on the uniform every day. and just recently with the attack in pensacola, a naval

academy grad, joshua watson was killed along with other servicemembers. they will be honoring him at the game. go about theirs day today, maybe watching the game or not, it's important to think about ensign watson, and everyone who has worn the uniform. if you come from a military family and you have the same appreciation, can never do enough to honor that service and sacrifice but one of the easiest ways is to pay attention and to reflect. host: amen. we would like to think will one more time for vote that -- one more time for being with us. coming up we will take more of your calls on the hash judiciary committee decision to improve trump impeachment charges. for democrats (202) 748-8000, for republicans (202) 748-8001, for independents (202) 748-8002. we will be right back. ♪ sunday at eight :00 eastern,

american history tv looks back on the impeachment against president bill clinton, with the december 19, 1998 house floor debate on the articles of impeachment. today, republicans, with a small handful of democrats, will vote to impeach president clinton. because we believe he committed crimes resulting in cheating our legal system. we believe he lied under oath numerous times, that he tempered with evidence, that he conspired to present false testimony to a court of law. we believe he assaulted our legal system in every way. let it be said that any president that cheats our institutions shall be impeached. >> explore our nation's past and watch the clinton impeachment on american history tv. >> mr. chairman there are 23

ay's and 17 no's. >> what the house judiciary committee -- with the house approving,ommittee the house rules committee will meet to determine how the debate will unfold. watch live coverage tuesday at 11:00 eastern on c-span3. watch online at c-span.org/impeachment, or listen live with the free c-span radio app. washington journal continues. host: once again we are opening up the phone lines and let you tell us what you think about the hash judiciary committee's twosion to vote out impeachment charges against president trump. before we get into the conversation, let's look at what jerry nadler had to say after

the important vote. , today is a solemn and sad day. for the third time in a little over a century and a half, the hash judiciary committee has voted articles of impeachment against the president. , andbuse of power obstruction of congress. the house will act expeditiously. and q. host: once again we open up our regular lines, for democrats (202) 748-8000, for republicans (202) 748-8001, for independents (202) 748-8002. you can always text us at (202) 748-8003, and we are always reading on social media on twitter and facebook.

let's talk to james, calling from fort washington, maryland, on the democratic line. good morning. caller: i think a lot of people trump before he became president for the things he did before he became president. hisbusiness failures, and general way of doing business. then he builds this corrupt presidency,o the and if these are the best people that he can get that he is surrounding himself with, god help us if he had gotten the worst people. on so sorry i did not get with the veteran who just got off. veterans way to the

facility in maryland to lay -- today ony to veterans graves. and i will send any mail to mr. goodwin as soon as i get through speaking to you. ruth, ands go to illinois, on the independent line. good morning. good morning. impeachment, everyone that didified said donald trump nothing that was impeachable. host: go ahead. , the questions that they asked was like listening to

guy who owns it was caught on videotape telling all the people who work at cnn to not put out one good thing about donald trump. their job is in jeopardy if they do. that's the same thing the democrats are doing to donald trump. i am mostly native american, donald trump is like an old evangelical i listened to back in the 60's. that pastor was martin luther king jr.. as far as i know, he was not wiped, he was black. thank you. host: let's go to james, calling from corpus christi, on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning pedro,

thank you for taking my phone call. i want to make one point from one word that sums this up in my opinion. i would like to read this to you, it won't take long. deliberate damage of equipment or interference with production as by disgruntled employees, destruction or obstruction intended to undermine a national military effort, and undermining a cause, or to injure or attack by sabotage. that's the definition from webster's of sabotage. i think it explains everything. thank you. host: president trump has two. this morning -- has tweeted this morning, his reaction to the vote yesterday. the disgraceful way that a wonderful man, brett kavanaugh, was treated by the

democrats, and now seen firsthand how those same radical left do-nothing dems are treating the whole impeachment impeachment hoax, understand why so many dams are voting republican. that was a tweet from president trump this morning on his official twitter account. , fromtalk to herbert florida, on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. thecalling about impeachment of donald trump. he's running a con game on the american people, he had no business holding that money and they know it. the republicans protecting him are under pressure to. if they had their way to be honest about it, they would impeach him to. president trump is running a con game on america, he's under the

stronghold of vladimir putin. he gave syria away because vladimir putin had his hand in. he's not an honest broker. thank you. brian, ins talk to georgia, on the independent line. good morning. frank, hello, my name is by the way, on calling in reference to the impeachment situation. aboutapprehensive president trump when he was elected three years ago. i voted for hillary clinton. after three years of donald trump and looking at his , i'm extremely pleased. my 401(k) went up 20% this year. let this continue. for the peopleot

who are unlawfully imprisoned for nonviolent offenses. israel, he care of and anti-semitism law about colleges. .hese are good things being that i vote for both parties, i find it extremely disconcerting that when they see a president who has unfortunately been attacked since the day he got into office , and he has still been able to accomplish all that we have seen. judiciary committee member

mike johnson, a republican, spoke to reporters on friday after the vote in the house judiciary committee. here's what he had to say. >> the founders of this country warned against single party impeachment. they had a very specific reason for warning us against that. vin earlyit would be divisive, perhaps irreparably divisive for the country. that's what has happened now. this is the first time in the history of this nation that a president has been treated in this manner, when one party has followed and pursued a predetermined political outcome to get to that idea. you have to remember that before the famous july 25 phone call, between president trump and president zelinski that supposedly sparked the charade, 95 house democrats had already voted to reseat -- proceed with impeachment. before any of these facts came forward. that is not right.

they determined this and said from the day he took the oath of office that they would remove him. they pursued that end. this is what we are left with, 14 hours yesterday and a few moments this morning. the anticlimactic end to this charade was fitting and appropriate. there was not much there and that's what happened here. the american people will militate against this. the polling has shown that they had been frustrated, they see what has happened and the lack of evidence, they see this paperthin impeachment proceeding , what ultimately developed of it, there's nothing behind it and we showed that clearly. i think there will be a huge political price paid by the democrats at the polls next year. host: let's go back to the phone lines and talk to mark, from north carolina, on the republican line. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. the concern i've got is the most basic rights any american citizen has, the right to face

his accuser. witnessesto have fact , and the democrats had denied all aspects of due process. is that thei have rights of the president of the united states can be breached, abridged, and subjugated to politics. what does that mean for the rest of us? host: i have a quick question, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says he may not call any witnesses in a possible senate trial. without also infringe on the president's rights if there are no witnesses called in an actual trial in the senate? caller: the problem is the democrats have not presented any witnesses that have any direct knowledge of anything. the one person they point out to, ambassador sondland, said that president trump said exactly the opposite of what these charges are. bribery, instruction,

tall kinds of things, and they said along these ludicrous facades in which the congress is being obstructed. and the obstruction is that donald trump, as the rights of anybody in the executive branch, can challenge the congress and the courts. they are saying you cannot go to the courts, congress is above the other branches. it's absolutely wrong, and there's no witnesses to call because there are not any witnesses that have said anything that is damaging to donald trump. it's a bunch of opinions. host: so do you want to see witnesses? any type of witnesses in the senate trial? or do you think they should just vote and not even call witnesses? caller: it's very difficult to have a trial when the prosecution has to bring its case and they don't have any direct witnesses with which to bring the case.

any judge would dismiss the case like this out right. if somebody came up in a court case, civil, criminal, if a prosecutor comes up and says your honor, we think this defendant robbed the bank, but we don't have any witnesses, and the only one we have is a person who says that he deposited a check. that's all this is, i don't know how you defend against something that has no witnesses against you. host: let's go to jordan, in north carolina, on the democratic line. thank you, are you there? .ordan, good morning we seem to have lost jordan, let's go to christopher, on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm just fine, go ahead. caller: they are trying to impeach trump on bribery and

this other stuff, when biden is openly admitting that he has done this to ukraine. why has he the top runner for the democratic party if they are trying to get rid of this corruption? another thing about biden, he likes little children touching his legs. don't vote this pulled -- mark, on theo to republican line in tennessee. good morning. caller: how are you doing? host: i'm fine. go ahead. ofler: i agree with the -- the previous caller but the one before that, this impeachment is a farce. it's a hoax. it's been built up. they know they will not impeach this president, but they are doing this for political reasons, to raise money and to try to use that in their future campaign. they are the ones manipulating a campaign. a sergeant major in the

army, i thought in the gulf war, so did my brother. my father, he was a lieutenant colonel in the vietnam war. countryhought for this and we thought we were doing what was right. when you are a soldier you have to follow orders. that's really all i wanted to say. let's go to michael on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i have three things to say about trump, everybody is saying he's doing such a great job. .e hasn't built his wall obama bailed out the car companies but trump has now spent more money on the farmers to build them out that he did. and when the president of turkey calls up trump and because those people pretty much so he could keep his hotel in turkey or that the president would just take it over?

that, down in was texas, where they are holding all of these people and detention camps. they are for-profit and somebody is making $700 per day on each one of these people that is down there. they are probably trump's friend's and they are getting $36 million a day. make sense on anything he says. what he says is -- when he said it is a scam, what is the mean? he uses the same word, witchhunt. is like a per day, he 13-year-old girl -- host: let's go to frank on the democratic line. frank, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. is here, what did trump intend? there is ample circumstantial

report by schiff about this, circumstantial evidence in a normal court of law wouldn't stand up because the way this is done is that jury infers the intent from the circumstantial evidence, and we have public statements by is heey that the problem is stonewalling other qnx's that have direct account of his -- other key witnesses that have direct intent of his intentions. who was with giuliani [indiscernible] he said, last hanukkah, trump sent he, that person, and -- giuliani, that

person -- [indiscernible] this immunity only applies to what he testified from some other item other than what he is charged with. lastuld testify that december trump intended to meddle in ukrainian affairs and to get ukraine's -- ukrainians to get political favor. from carl calling jacksonville, texas on the republican line. caller: good morning. i want to address the first impeachment, abuse of power, or widowed -- whatever they are saying it, how he withheld money from the ukrainians, and what a national security risk that that created. what about our southern border? i live in texas. what about our southern border?

allow theats will not wall to be built, even though, in texas, there are drug cartels , right now, producing drugs in the state of texas, so it is easier access. last i heard, donald trump has done this for his own profit. i think he's the only president since george washington that did not -- hasn't taken a paycheck yet. when they talk about the people in ukraine dying, and they are so concerned about that death, they don't give a hoot about the 60 million babies the democrats have allowed to be murdered in the womb. so it's a little hypocrisy in my opinion. thank you. host: we would like to thank all of our callers once again for calling into the show this morning. for the last hour, we will talk

with craig shirley about his new book on the untold story of george washington's mother. we will be right back. ♪ announcer: this sunday, book tv features three new books. at 5:30 p.m. eastern, amity slays compares the 1960's debates to those two today. -- to today. >> generally speaking, there was a terrible morning aftereffect following the bench. the economy had begun to flail like never before. unemployment went toward 10%, and interest rates went past 15%. undergh costs of labor, policies backed by the

government, did drive american companies to leave town. grass to grow in pittsfield. p.m., simpson8:00 discusses his book, co-author fridge.er mind, the picture of what happens is pretty clear. i get the fact that other people don't see that because there has been this deliberate effort to secure that. at the highest level of the governments. but, donald trump and his attorney general, william barr, they have succeeded, to some extent, and confusing people about what the facts are. >> at 9:00 p.m. on afterwards, joe ricketts, founder of td ameritrade, talks about his book "the harder you work, the luckier you get." an entrepreneur's memoir. >> i always had to say to myself, be ready to fail. be ready to lose all of your

dreams, and start over. website, and one of the entrepreneurs in the website that i interview says aren't different. we fail, but when we do we get back on the horse. announcer: watch book tv this weekend and every weekend on c-span two. . "washington journal" continues. >> we are back with craig shirley, the offer -- host: we are back with craig shirley, the author of his book on george washington's mother. why write about mary washington? we've all heard the story of george washington, but why write about his mother? >> because she is a misunderstood figure of history. she has been badly treated by american history. there has never been a

definitive biography done of george washington's mother, which i thought was remarkable. it's not just because she had to give an answer, it's how she raised him. her husband, augustine, died when george was young. she was in her 30's raising six children. that alone would resonate with a lot of women in america today. the tough times she went through raising her children. to byhe was referred biographers, from her passing to the time of the civil war, she came across as june cleaver. war, realismil began to take hold in american literature with moby dick, tom sawyer, huckleberry finn, and all of that. also, the biographers who mentioned her made her look more like joan crawford, so both got

it wrong. there were elements of both of her character and makeup, but both got them wrong. i decided, plus i lived in the was in the life -- lively area of virginia. it seemed like i wanted to write something about washington, but he had pretty much been covered, soup to nails, but the way to get in and talk about him was to a book about his father. host: give us a quick ir gripper of mary washington. it she born in the united states? give us information about her. guest: she was born in the united states. was born of means, not

like the upper classes but the upper middle classes of virginia society. , shethe time she was born had lost her mother, father, stepfather, so she knew about death intimately by the time she was 11. she meets augustine in her 20's, and proceeds to marry him, and in nine years, she had six children. on ferry farm, outside of fredericksburg, virginia, for a time. as things evolved and augustine died, and the children moved on, she moved into fredericksburg where she spent the rest of her life. she was not as active in the the local she went to church, we know she liked to dance, but there are a lot of gaps in the stories.

it's like picking up -- it's like buying a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and having 300 pieces missing. you've got to stitch it together, and make educated besses about what was the part of the puzzle to get you from a to c. that is what we had to do. we searched everything at mount vernon, cincinnati society, fredericksburg, and fredericksburg newspapers, mary ball washington's home, mary but washington library in virginia, everything we could -- combed everything we could to assemble the first story of mary ball washington. host: why is it necessary for americans to know the complete story of mary ball washington? what do we learn about george washington and about the beginnings of america from her? ? guest: he had an old step brother named lawrence who was

part of augustine's married to jane, and jane died and augustine married mary. george looked up to lawrence as a role model, and lawrence was a very good man, but he also died in his late 20's, early 30's. attributes, of his his patriotism, his loyalties, intelligence, integrity, fidelity, all of these things had to come from somewhere. clearly, they came from his mother. she was the one who taught him life lessons that made him the president, the standard by which all other presidents are measured. i wanted to people to understand the 1700s was not a very hospitable century for a lot of people, african slaves, but also women.

she obviously didn't have the vote, but she couldn't own property. women in that century couldn't own property. they would inherit it from there husband and there husband died, but then, their job was to be a custodian of the property and pass it along to their eldest son. that is what she did with the farm. augustine left it to george and she was the custodian of it. then, interestingly enough, indicative of the relationship, handed ferryreally farm over to george, even though he expressed frustration with her for not executing the paperwork to give him that farm, which his father had left to him. host: what was her relationship like with george? where they close? where they distant? tell us about the relationship

between a young george washington and his mother, and then older george washington with his mother. guest: i suppose washington, in amost of us, was lifetime or fruitless quest to please his father. [laughter] rather expected him to go out and do good things. it was expected of people of that class, that strata, virginia society, to go out. you were not supposed to be wasteful, you were supposed to go do things. george was so happy presiding over the continental congress, was the commander-in-chief of the continental army and was annexed -- elected unanimously as the president of the united states and re-elected unanimously. when he was 14 years old, he wanted to join the british navy as a cabin boy. she wrote a letter to her brother-in-law who was in london

and said tell me about how americans are treated in the british navy. he wrote a letter back and set under no circumstances can you allow george to become a cabin boy. it's the lowest rung, and cabin boys typically were british royalty, british subjects, then french, spanish, whatever. at the lowest wrong, even below jamaicans and african slaves were american cabin boys. they were treated the worst of all. this is at a time as well when one third of cabin boys died at sea. when she gets this letter from her brother-in-law, she puts her foot down and says george, under no circumstances can you join the british navy. host: how did he take that? , basedas far as we know on the little information we have, he was disappointed. but, he did as his mother told

him to do. host: which is what we all do eventually. guest: exactly. [laughter] guest: or we try to at least. host: i want to read a little from your book, something you said about mary ball washington. saint or an as a villain, nothing together, but her character complemented each other. aries kindness and control were one and the same. mary washington was a woman who used the facade of motherly virtue to cover her desire to control her son. in the same way he led a country to break away from its overpowering imperial matriarch. to stepad to struggle away from the power of his demanding mother. give us ways in which george had to break away, and prove his independence to his mother. guest: one example i gave you about the cabin boys, joining

british navy. when he joined the french and indian wars, when he was in the british army fighting the french and indians in the ohio valley, she implored him not to go, and he went, despite her. on the other hand, he was very dutiful about delivering an allowance to her several times per year, sometimes more than a few times per year. host: and you mean part of his salary. guest: part of his income from mount vernon and things like that. he would take money to her in fredericksburg, for her to help make ends meet. battles overtrast, property, battles over whether or not he joined the british army, british navy, but there was also clear that she did love him -- it was clear that she did love him and it was clear that he loved her. it was a loving relationship.

host: i want to let our viewers join in on the conversation. we will open up regional lines for this last hour. that means, if you live in the eastern or central time zones, we want to do: at (202) 748-8000 -- we want you can to call in at (202) 748-8000. if you are mountain or pacific, your number is (202) 748-8001. keep in mind, you can always text us your questions at (202) 748-8003, and we are always reading social media, on twitter atpanwj and on facebook facebook.com/cspan. i'm always interested in the research that goes into things like this. the further we go back in history, the harder it is to find material that helps us build these narratives. what did you work from to come up with the story of mary ball washington?

what information was out there on who she was and her life? yout: previous books, and have what you knew to be factual, believe it was factual, versus the stuff that was maybe having a little hole in it or something like that. his letters, washington was a prodigious writer of letters. her letters, some of which survived to this day, multiple accounts, letters from her children like betty and samuel to her, and letters from her to her children. local newspaper accounts, third-party accounts, there was an account once where french soldiers going through fredericksburg joined the american revolution, and they recorded mary was anything but in support of the revolution, which was interesting because her son was leading the revolution. host:host: say that again. -- host: say that again. guest: the indication was she was not all that thrilled about

the revolution, that she was loyal to the british crown, even as her own son was leading the american revolution. there was a count of french soldiers going to fredericksburg that noted mary's difference to the whole revolution. host: since we are talking about it, let's jump into it. mary ball washington grew up as a british subject. her son is leading a rebellion against the culture she grew up in. did that cause a conflict between the two? guest: not that i've been able to discover. you are exactly right, from the time she was born along about --we don't know when she was buried and we know her approximate age and we know she died of breast cancer. her approximate age was 83 when she died but no one is sure.

she grew up correctly in the british culture. she was a british subject and went to the local anglo church. she grew up believing in the divine right of kings, that king george of the second, king george the third where the absolute heads of the british empire, and she was the british subject of the american colonies -- and part of the american colonies. she and a lot of other people like her were asked to forget everything they have been immersed in for the last 60 years and the like. everything you've learned, you have to unlearn. everything you know is wrong. you don't bow down to kings, the british parliament is not running things, you don't take your orders from parliament, we the deck andble throw off that colonial power, and we will become an

independent nation. this is earth shattering for a lot of people. this is before the internet, before regular newspapers and television. thes of communication are spoken word, written word, and newspapers. things moved slowly, but when the revolution happens, which goes in slow motion because the american revolution really starts probably 10 or 15 years 1776, allhe july 14, edict ofking george's american colonies not to settle the ohio valley. overlong period of time, 10 years or more, great britain and parliament, and the king are pushing more and more down on the american colonists, and

sometimes they withdraw these acts, and sometimes they don't. up around 1774, that results in the declaration of independence in 1776. she is watching all this but really not involved at all. like a lot of people, she is not involved. there is no record of her knitting socks for the american or hosting fundraisers, or members of american the colonial army, nothing like that whatsoever. she was an observer at best. --t: washington at the time george washington was probably the most famous living american at the time, he and ben franklin. was she ever? in any danger during the revolution you would think -- what she ever in any danger during the revolution? you would think the british

might collect his mother. guest: they didn't engage in things like that. i'm not sure how well known that she was not a supporter of the revolution. obviously he knew, but he was preoccupied with this ragtag -- britishg to victory after british victory, and that is washington's genius, he kept the army together going from battle to battle. losing many and winning a few, but winning a few important ones. guest: was there contact -- host: was there contact between then general washington and his mother during the revolution? guest: no. he wrote many letters to martha and she wrote many letters to him, but virtually no communication between george and mary during the seven years of the american revolution. host: why do you think that was? is it simply because he was too busy? guest: i don't think there was anything -- host: maybe a rip in the

relationship? guest: nothing emerged to suggest that. not any contemporary letters whatsoever or diaries whatsoever seem to indicate there was a rift between the relationship, it was just he was very busy. examples as well of how much he loved her and devoted to her he was. all the letters to her were addressed as honored madam. it was respectful, that was clear, but it kept her in somewhat an arms length distance. it's so formal, to keep it from being too personal. host: let's let some of our viewers join in on the conversation. we open up regional lines. if you live in the eastern or central time zones, your number is (202) 748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, your number

is (202) 748-8001. let's talk to jim who is calling from tucker, georgia. jim, good morning. guys.: good morning, you fascinating topic. have ation is, well i couple questions and comments. first of all, you talk about the way people communicated back then, and you didn't mention a town crier, so i would be interested to know how that impacts the way folks communicated back then. regarding the relationship with interestingthat's stuff. i would like to know how the temperate -- i guess it wasn't a temperate movement back then, but how that relationship may

have affected washington's perspective on the rescue rebellion after he was president. then, i have -- i would like to know, two more things. you look at the way people communicated back then and you talk about his letters and things like that, and that is great. people have letters to look at, but now with our culture the way it is now and all of the e-commu wonder how that will affect research. the last thing, i want to hear your comments on how washington's relationship with his mother may compare or contrast to president trump's relationship with his mother. [laughter] guest: that's a lot of questions. i will try to do my best. know about donald trump's relationship with his mother. most presidents had very good

relationships with their mother, and i think that is a key indicator of what type of president they would be. obviously, abraham lincoln spoke , andy about nancy hangs sarah roosevelt was domineering of franklin roosevelt, but he lived with her his whole life basically, even when he was president and went home to sunnyside in hyde park. reagan -- ronald reagan, i have written four books about ronald reagan, had a very devoted relationship with his mother. so much so, that when he was of age, he and his brother, neil, were given the choice of following their father's religion of roman catholic or mother's religion of christ. and neilose christ chose roman catholic. he always said nothing but very warm things. he gave her a job in hollywood

in the 1940's, answering his fan mail for him. bought her and her husband house , so i think most presidents -- indicatork this is an of leadership -- most presidents have had good, maybe sometimes tumultuous, but very strong relationships with their mother. maybe even more so because we know abraham lincoln despised his father but love his mother -- loved his mother. theirhello mother raises son is just as important if not more important than how father raises his son. temperance, washington himself was a whiskey distiller, and quite successful at selling it. there is still a distillery at mount vernon property today. he was known to have a cocktail,

though there was no record of him drinking too drunkenness. his brother samuel, there is evidence his brother had a drinking problem. temperance movement in that era whatsoever. no evidence either that mary everett -- ever took what they called spirits, had a drink or a cocktail or anything like that. what were the other questions those two will be enough -- questions? host: those two will be enough. let's talk to steve from webster, massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. mr. shirley, in your research, i'm curious, did you ever come across anything that supports the cherry tree story, the myth. guest: no. go ahead. caller: i also had a second

question, i would like you to enlighten us a little bit on the whiskey rebellion, but i -- i am a student somewhat of rebellion. president washington to my understanding had a distain of backwoods people. if you could comment on that item, first the cherry tree, and i don't believe it. and also about the agrarian rebellions as well. perhaps his mother's affect on president washington, and his regard toward agrarian's. guest: thank you. what was the first one? host: the cherry tree. guest: there was an early biographer of george washington, and he was the one who came up with the cherry tree story. there is no evidence the cherry tree story actually happened whatsoever, but it did indicate

that one thing is true about that is that door to washington was a man of deep conviction, deep character, deep honesty, and deep integrity. the story, while probably not parable still a good about the type of boy george washington was, the type of man -- in the type of man he grew into. it has its uses even though it is not true. and thes the rebellion whiskey rebellion -- the origins of the whiskey rebellion, after washington becomes president, hamilton goes to washington. -- alexanderbolton hamilton goes to washington and says we need to pay off the various debts from the revolution in one way to bind the country together is to take on all of the debts to the national government. washington agrees on this. interestingly enough, it's an

indication of how early lobbyists were operating in washington, because the taxes were levied on the whiskey distilleries, and they were laid more heavily on the small distilleries and less on the bigger ones because the bigger distilleries hired lobbyists to lobby washington and lay off of them. that was the source of the whiskey rebellion, the small distilleries. one thing they did, which was interesting, in washington -- and washington did lead men in thele out to suppress whiskey rebellion, especially in rural pennsylvania and rural virginia, was that the distilleries, in order to escape the tax, simply left the united states and moved into kentucky and tennessee, which -- host: which was not part of the united states. guest: which was not part of the united states. but now all of these -- now that all of these were fine spirits

were made in tennessee and kentucky, because they left the united states to escape the the -- escapeby the whiskey taxes. host: we talked about mary ball washington and a young george washington. will you talk a little bit about mary ball washington and adult george washington? what was the relationship between president george washington and mary ball washington? question.s is a good he's chosen as president of the united states, and he has got to go to new york, being the first capital of the united states, has to go there to assemble a government and assume the duties as the first chief executive, but before he does leave for mount vernon, new york, he makes one last ship to fredericksburg, and he goes knowing his mother is dying of cancer. she knows she is dying of cancer. there are two contemporary

accounts of letters at the last meeting between the two of them warm, and shery basically acknowledged, finally acknowledged, what he done in his life had been great. she basically gave her blessings to go to new york to assume the office of president of the united states and do what he had to do to pull the country together, so by all accounts, his last meeting with her was a warm one. now, he is in new york, and several months later, he gets a letter, from pennsylvania to new by horse andletter carriage takes two weeks or something like that, and he is told his mother passed away. he goes into a room by himself or something like three hours. obviously grave -- grief stricken at the loss of his mother. , all of thehe end

old animosities and old battles had fallen away. it was just the love of a mother and son. host: did president george washington, was he able to attend a funeral or service for his mother? guest: no. he [indiscernible] host: by whom? guest: gossips and things like that. i don't remember any newspapers saying anything about that. maybe there was one or two, but i don't remember offhand. but again, he was a victim of distance. 350 miles from fredericksburg to new york -- guest: by the time he heard, it was probably -- host: by the time he heard, it probably would have been a week

of so later. guest: by the time he heard she probably would have been buried. her life was celebrated and her collection quickly took up and fredericksburg to establish a monument, a large jobless -- o blisk. it set uncompleted for many years, and finally, later on, i thing it was andrew jackson who monument,edicated the but it wasn't finished for many years later but it is finished today. host: let's talk to dawn, calling from durham, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. shirley to know if mr. had any background or information he came across in or beingthe slave act created, because new york had different rules on endangered

servants and slaves, when they could be freed. in the white house being actually moved to washington dc because of that. d.c., because of that. a book talked about his pursuit of runaway slaves. second, any commentary he has on the use of africans on the british and american side, to win the revolutionary war, because ultimately george washington have -- had to use african men to win the war, africans who wanted to be free from slavery because the americans and so forth were dropping out of the war. they were leaving and abandoning their post. guest: i will admit my knowledge on the future of runaway slave act -- fugitive runaway slave act is not what it should be. slavery was an important part of

american society and culture in the 1700s, and later in the 1800s. operatedm, where mary her crops, had about 20 slaves. she had several house slaves in her house and fredericksburg. slaves,on had over 300 who we all freed on his deathbed. again, i didn't get into this, but i'm aware african-americans served in both the british army and american army, and i believe there was some promises made of freedom, if they served in the american revolution. and he used them as well until the cotton gin. i'm not as versus i should be, but there was no doubt they were

intertwined, and have been so for 300 years. host: what was the relationship like between mary ball washington and martha washington? when george washington marries martha, and i believe -- on his death, president washington said his slaves could be released after martha's death. guest: i believe so, yes. host: so then after martha's death, they could be freed. what was the relationship between mary ball while thinking -- washington and martha washington? guest: there's some evidence it was not good. mary did not attend the marriage, but that could have been because of distance. attendary did not georgia martha's wedding? [over talk] guest: their wedding, yes i beg your pardon. on the other hand, one time

washington wrote a letter to his mother-in-law, martha's mother, and said please come and visit us in mount vernon. we have lots of food, lots of visitors, lots of room, lots of music, you will have a great time. at the same time, he writes a letter to his mother to say don't visit us on mount vernon, there are too many people here, you won't like the food, there is not enough room, and the music is too loud. host: very clear how he felt there. guest: exactly. host: did mary ball washington ever go to mount vernon? guest: no. , before it wasce mount vernon, before his brother lawrence -- when his brother lawrence owned it, he raining -- afterd it mount vernon someone he served under. there was evidence mary may have gone to the creek to plead with george not to go join the british army and fight in the ohio valley, to fight the french

and indian wars, but it is can't evidence. i tend to believe -- it is scant evidence. i believe she never visited mount vernon. host: let's go back to our callers, rick calling from las cruces, new mexico. caller: good morning. shirley toe mr. comment on anything he knows about those allowances he mentioned, that george washington provided his mother. i seem to have read somewhere he expected those to be paid back. he viewed those as loans. is that correct? guest: he wrote them down in his diaries. he was meticulous, as it sounds like you know about all of his financial transactions and his acreage and what was being produced, and the number of tobacco, andes, other things like that. i'm not sure i recall them being

-- he may have listed them as dead, but i don't expect -- debt, but i don't think he expected to be repaid. she did not have the income to repay, and i think he felt like it was his duty to give his mother these allowances. and, they varied from time to time. sometimes they were larger, sometimes they were smaller, but interestingly, the last time they met, which i mentioned earlier, he brought -- the last time they met before he went to new york to become president, he took an allowance to his mother, and she refused it saying she was fine and had enough money. it was clear in her mind that it was not something he owed her, not something she demanded, but he was giving it out of the kindness of his heart, and he may have recorded in his diaries or ledgers as a debt, but he never expected to collapse -- collect on it. host: martha is calling from

charleston, south carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for another great book. i'm looking forward to reading it. mentioned caller never caught by eric armstrong dunbar, the story of george the slavespursuing that ran away in philadelphia to freedom. owna judge was martha washington's helper in everything she did, so george pursued that. a's an amazing history, national book award, thinks to c-span. i read it and bought it and i will buy your book. id george know, d visit his mother in fredericksburg, and is there a possibility that maybe his mother destroyed the letters

that may have been exchanged during the controversial revolutionary war, anything like that? guest: that's a good point. very possibly. we know martha destroyed all the letters george wrote her, which is invaluable history lost. there were many letters george wrote martha, which she burned after his passing. that maryble destroyed letters, but there is at anyence he wrote it one time. who is to say. we have one -- host: we have one of our social media followers which would like to know what is mary ball washington view on slavery -- was mary ball washington's view on slavery? guest: she was a person in her time and culture. she never expressed any type of opposition to it, or anything i could find, or any regret over

it. she simply accepted it. she had her house slaves, slaves farm,y farm, and -- fairy and it was just part of the culture and colonial america, especially in the south. host: that her slaves come through her marriage, or did she inherit them from her parents? guest: she inherited -- that's a great point. when her parents died, she inherited several slaves, and when her husband died, she inherited more slaves. host: do we know, did she go out and actively purchase more or were there all inherited? guest: there is no evidence he -- that is something a woman in the culture and time would have done, it would have been done by one of her sons, family friend, or george. but there's no evidence. it's one of those missing gaps of history as to why she obtained -- how she obtained

slaves other through inheritance. host: let's go back to the caller, fred, calling from virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to find out the circumstances of mary ball to george moving washington -- from george washington's earth place to ferry farm. i don't know the circumstances. you're talking about west moreland county where george washington's birthplace was. it was simply a matter of i believe, convenience, because after augustine had died, she needed to be near where she could easily obtain food and a safer setting than the rural part of virginia.

sense for hermade to move to fredericksburg from westmoreland county. host: i want to read a little more from your book here. for all ofyour book, mary's faith and devotion, in the end, her motherly love may have been as much about authority as affection. it was thus george washington came to manhood, under the maternal hand, as he wrote, of mary ball washington. it made him the man he was, stubborn, singular, and independent. how should we remember mary ball washington? what should be her place in american history? guest: i think her place in american history should be as the woman who raised the man who became the most important person in america. when george -- at the end of the american revolution, george goes to the continental congress

meeting in baltimore, and apple lis,and he goes -- annapo and he goes and makes a speech, surrendering his sword and his commanding goes back to fredericksburg. when king george the third is told george washington has laid down his sword, like cincinnatus, to go back, he said he will be regarded as the greatest man in the world. that was the king of england who is the head of the british empire, which had dominion over so much of the world, who is now saying george washington would be regarded as the greatest man in the world. this is high praise. this is incredibly high praise. clear, it's clear these qualities, the integrity, the honesty, the courage, the , itsty, two term limit wasn't mandated by law but washington said two terms is

enough and that became standard for all american presidents until franklin roosevelt. where did he get these from? he clearly got them from his mother, so she should be ofarded not as the founder america or anything like that at all, but simply the inspiration for the founding of america, or one of the great inspirations for the founding of america. that's really why i wanted to write the book because history has been so unkind to her over the last 250-300 years. host: you said earlier in the conversation there was a monument to mary ball washington , but in fredericksburg, andrew jackson did the dedication for it. monuments,ny other any other things named after mary washington that we can see now? guest: mary washington university in fredericksburg -- host: and that was named directly after her? guest: yes. there is a library in lancaster,

various streets in fredericksburg named after her, and i'm sure i'm forgetting other things, but she is being -- by the way, fredericksburg's baseball team, the nationals, the minor league team owned by the washington nationals, just adopted mary ball washington as their mascot. character -- caricature of her and george hitting a ball with an ax, the xo chopped down the cherry tree. little cartoons ash the acts -- axe thatthat -- chopped down the cherry tree. host: let's go to bill calling from connecticut. good morning. caller: my question for your guest is that he said george washington's mother was conflicted over their relationship with england. was george himself ever conflicted?

guest: sure. there were over eight made on behalf -- ovations made on behalf of the colonies to great -- i think ity to was called the olive branch initiative, to try to get parliament and king george the third to lay off the taxes and, they would stay loyal to the they wouldxes, and stay loyal to the crown. george washington was also immersed in that culture. brothervious of his who served in the british navy, was very respectful. americans to for throw off the british crown and declare themselves free and independent, and no longer subjects of the british crown quicker,rs came to a you know, sam adams and john

hancock and others came to the revolution quickly. washington came to its more slowly. host: you've called this book ogrophy a history --historyography. rather than a biography. mazza different? guest: a -- why is that different? is all facts.aphy i would say 80% of that is fact based in the other 20% is based on speculation. host: based on what you know as an expert in your research. guest: exactly. richardt's talk to who's calling from albuquerque, new mexico. richard, good morning. caller: good morning.

we are talking about history here, and on the time of george washington, we have seen the tariffs and all of that everything, but i just want you to get it right for everybody. i feel like you are a good historian. guest: that's very kind. were not related, ari? -- are we? caller: let's talk about the slavery issue. that was the norm for everybody. but, when abraham lincoln come in to be president, can you explain to everybody over here that abraham lincoln, the wentse of everything that down in the civil war was because of tariffs and taxes. when the south wanted to separate themselves from the itons, and along came with to free the slaves. but, it was all about the

tariffs and taxes. -- thent lincoln confederates separate themselves from the union, if they did, they would be strong. can you weed out everybody that thinks it was because of the war to free slavery. that wasn't the issue. it was because of the taxes and tariffs and everything. host: i'm not an expert -- guest: i'm not an expert on abraham lincoln, but i think the debate was settled many years ago that the civil war was about civil rights. it was about freedom for african-americans. it was the very foundation of the republican party, which was elected in 1860. 1860 on limiting

slavery, but he quickly evolved into an abolitionist, and that is what the war was about, about slavery. host: how long did it take you to write this book? how long was the research and writing? what was the process? guest: about four years. where i started, jesse, was getting a contract from a publisher, which always helps. the same with all of my books, i tried to assemble as much information as possible, and immerse myself in as much information as possible, then i would start sketching out the chapters as to what i think. i like to write chronologically because i think that makes it more interesting for the reader, and more logical for the reader instead of jumping around here and there. book is about mary's birth, life, death, and everything that happened in between. about 80on reagan are

campaign and the conclusion of the 80 campaign. my book on december of 1941 is about 31 days of december and how it changed the united states before pearl harbor and after pearl harbor. i assemble as much information read as,le, and are digested, talk about it, think about it. typically, what i would do is that, each morning, i would assimilate new information, right in the afternoon. in the evening, i would give what i written -- i have written to my wife, and she edits all my books. everything i write, she edits. my op-ed's as well. in the evening, she would edit the various pages i have written, give it to me the next morning, and i would take her what and input it -- input i have written, or corrections, and start the whole process

again. i don't typically work on the weekends, but we do have a write,, edit, research, edit, research, write. -- i can jumpythm into a book, but i would much prefer to stay with the book from beginning to end until i finish it. this book took four years. all of my books on reagan took three to four years. my book on world war ii -- december 1941 took three years. my book on newt gingrich took three years. they usually take three to four years. host: and you are able to be edited by your wife and stay married. guest: yeah. i would say, we joke about that. i've discovered the habits of other writers, and their wives. mark twain, for instance, wrote most of his in hartford and was

in a third floor office 10 and he drew a chalk line across the floor. nobody was allowed across the chalk line, not his daughters, the maids. the only want to cross the chalk line was his wife to edit his work. i'm trying to think of the writer, walter mitty. host: now that you said that, it has totally gone out of my mind. , jameshe was a server server, in the 1920's, one of those black-tie soirees with the champagne popping and people laughing and food and good times. he is just staring off into minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes. finally, she yells at him and says james, stop writing.

he was writing in his head. you probably do the same thing and i do the same thing. that's one of the things i learned, you are thinking about the book all the time. host: we would like to thank craig shirley for being here and he has his new book "martha ball washington." -- mary ballke washington." we would like to thank all of our guests and viewers this morning. make sure you join us again for another episode of "washington journal" tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. everyone have a great saturday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> monday night on the

communicators mike doyle chair of the house subcommittee overseeing technology and self communications. -- our concernd is to close the digital divide that exists in this country and we have an opportunity to do that and it is important we do that. homeworks 50% of their assignments require internet access and they cannot get it where they live. they go to mcdonald's or a library to find a hotspot to do their homework. these young people are being greatly disadvantaged when they don't have access to broadband. that is what we will be focusing on. at,do we close the homework the digital divide? how do we get broadband deployment to underserved areas. >> watch the communicators monday night at 8:00 eastern on

c-span two. >> with the house judiciary approving articles against president trump, the house rules committee will meet to determine guidelines on how debate will unfold on the house floor. on tuesday on c-span3, online or listen live with the free c-span radio app. page.

senator ted cruz, one of the republican members. live coverage here on cspan 3.