"coming home: how black americans well reelect from." and then we will discuss the democratic primary contest with bill ♪ host: good morning. it is 7:00 a.m. in the east as we spring ahead. -- time changee taking place. six states had to the polls on tuesday and what is a two-person race. the primaries in idaho, mississippi, missouri, north dakota and washington state, as well as michigan which is the battleground. campaign coverage continues today. we are live with the bernie sanders campaign into grand rapids.

only, tell us who is your choice in 2020. --you support biting, call biden call (202-748-8000). sanders,pport (202-748-8001). unsure,re (202-748-8002). you can also text us at (202-748-8003) or join us on twitter. let to talk about including the coronavirus. follow the conference and one of the attendees found of the coronavirus. italy is locking down a portion of the country. here are the details. the italian government is locking down 17 million people, including milan, the lombardi

region, and neighboring provinces in the most sweeping steps against the coronavirus. a decree from the premised are saying people living in lombardi , and the main province, must avoid any movement into and out of the areas. the wall street journal points out police, emergency services, and the army will be available to enforce the quarantine. people violating the lockdown could face a fine or jail time. this is reminiscent of measures taken in china which put about 500 million people under full or partial lockdown. china's move appears to have success as the number has fallen steeply. the daily number of new cases in several other countries including italy has lessened. and 233s 5800 cases

deaths. more details on what is happening in the d.c. area including a case in washington, d.c. we will have the animate but i want to share something from our producer. this is from teresa johnson who is on the cruise ship off the coast of san francisco expected to hit the port of oakland. this was the announcement from the captain. [video clip] as part of our ongoing coronation with federal, state, and local authorities an agreement has been reached to bring us into oakland tomorrow. >> thank god. >> an agreement has been reached to bring our ship into the port of oakland tomorrow. time of ouract arrival has not been completely finalized, we anticipate

arriving sometime tomorrow afternoon. after docking, we will begin disembarking specified by authorities that is likely to take several days. again, the disembarking process is still being finalized by u.s. and state health authorities. however, we have learned the following from the government office. require acute medical treatment and hospitalization will be transported to health facilities in california. requireguests don't acute medical care following health screenings, those that are california residents will go to a federally operated isolation facility within california for testing and isolation. three, u.s. guests from states

other than california will be transported by the u.s. federal government to facilities in other states. information we were provided did not include details about international guests. we are working to obtain more details overnight. host: that is from one of the passengers on the cruise ship which has been stationed off the coast of san francisco. more than 3000 people are on board and more than two dozen crewmembers and passengers that have been confirmed with the coronavirus will be back in oakland tomorrow. hearing washington, three more coronavirus infections reported in the d.c. area including when a d.c., one in fairfax, virginia and then this headline. how the trump administration lost control of the coronavirus. here are some of the details

based on administration sources. "there were problems with the initial coronavirus test kit which have unspecified problems that proctored inclusive results. it took expects nearly three weeks of troubleshooting to find a workaround. president trump and many were skeptical of how serious the coronavirus that was. the president seemed uninterested as long as the virus was abroad. when he began to engage, downplayed the threat. the threat is under control in the u.s. he tweeted and became a font of misinformation, further modeling the response. on friday, the president spewed more falsehood when he claimed, incorrectly, that anybody who needs a test can get a test. the tests are beautiful. the $8.3 billion in supplemental funds for coronavirus aid should

have been requested a month earlier according to many officials and experts. had that come sooner, government anencies could've gotten earlier start to a vaccine. they could've had the money and resources to support lab testing and infection control, transportation, and lodging for those needing quarantine hospitals could've stuc stockpiled supplies." lester to campaign 2020. we want to hear from camping democrats. who do you support? florida.obert in thank you for c-span. i have been watching the fox fake news lately because they are saying, as is trump, they are running scared of biden.

they are trying to attack -- fake attack -- biden. they are trying to fake attack biden with false claims of alzheimer's and dementia because gafs he is known to make. every pundit on the tv for the republicans on the fox fake news is talking. psychiatristsand and i hope the democrats fight back. gaffes and trump's the slips he has made. i am not saying it is fair. fair to fightis fire with fire but unfortunately the debate has been dumbed down.

instead of talking smartly about policies and problems and going forward, uniting, fixing the problems, dealing with the virus, we are dumbed down to be talking about false, fake news from the one side. that should bring about an dumbedback because the down news where we are talking about false, fake news stories. talking about biden having a -- talk about trump in the same way. and idumbing us all down hope there is some way democrats can rise above it. at the same time, i hope they fight fire with fire because they're going to have to. in order to get the dumbed down jerry springer audience. host: thank you for the call. the former vice president yesterday was in st. louis.

one of the six states with primaries on tuesday. we are live with senator bernie eastern in12:30 grand rapids. there was this from the former vice president yesterday. [video clip] >> we remain united. not selling more division and anger. healing a country. i have been saying that for the last five months. finally people are coming around. i really mean this. think about that. we must be donald trump but we cannot become like donald trump. [applause] fight but have to they also have to forgive and join people together. folks, we have to heal the divisions in our democracy. our children are literally watching. the world is watching.

future generations will look back at this moment and know metal to save our democracy. [applause] joe, let's go joe -- >> my wife got to meet some of these people the last rally. fight for the proposition. we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal. we have never fully lived up to that assertion. we have never walked away from it let this president has. are doing exactly what trump does. don't pay attention to them. [applause] days of donald trump's

division will soon be over. we are descendents of brave, resilient people. the vast georgie were immigrants and we can believe again. they better than this moment, we are better than this president, so get up. [applause] let's take back this country. we are the united states of america and there's nothing beyond our capability if we do it together! host: that from the former vice president with some of the protesters also in the audience. cheryl in los angeles, who is your candidate? caller: bernie sanders. good morning, steve. please allow me to make three points. first, i hope the democratic party do come together and that we don't fight amongst ourselves and be divided.

biden and i don't want to talk negative about him in any way. i just hope it will be a fair race where they don't talk bad about each other but state the facts. say,ther thing i wanted to they ask how will bernie sanders pay for it but they had a lady from yale explaining -- i think it was from yale three weeks ago -- they stated that she came out and said how it would be paid. medicare for all and people said, i don't know how it is going to be paid for but the lady said how it could be paid for. the medicare for all

and i want to say one more thing. i hope that it resonates in people's hearts in spirit that fair due process toward sanders. i would let someone else speak but i hope they realize it can be paid for and that we don't have a backbiting -- host: we will leave it there. melissa has this on the facebook. either is fine with me. both bernie and uncle joe are good, moral people. f for junk mail before trump. i agree with them for the first time. there is only one more debate to

the d&c can protect its candidate. that debate is scheduled for phoenix, arizona. and saying, i voted for warren. two wet men are not the choice but i will vote blue either way. let us go to adrian who is not sure. joining us from ohio. your primary scheduled later this month. when will you decide? caller: when the election actually happens. wanted are already out so i don't care between either one of these guys. ie point i want to make is just don't like the way the fight is going. man, i don't like what i am seeing.

i don't like it. the black people are going for biden and we are not. i get offended by it. another thing, i see a lot of forle who are really sanders who are not going to vote for biden if he gets the nomination and that scares me. you all need to stop. host: sanders, i love how things trent progressive. even if his vision does not come to fruition he will nudge the issues in the right direction. biden is from the school of politics of compromise that comes to a republican light solution. joe bideno reporters, 110 of the 15 contests the

senator had this to say. [video clip] >> as we come into the last several months of this campaign what i hope is that what we can focus on is an issue oriented campaign which deals with the concerns of the american people. as some of you may recall, the last debate that took place was insulting to the american people, it was a food fight, it was about who could yell the loudest. the american people want a serious debate on serious issues. joe biden is someone i have known for many years. i like joe. i think he is a decent human being. joe and i have a different voting record. joe and i have a different vision for the future of this country and joe and i are running different campaigns. months is in the coming we can debate and discuss the

very significant differences that we have. host: that was senator bernie sanders in vermont. he is on the campaign trail in grand rapids, michigan. live coverage at 12:30 eastern. gloria in maryland, who is your choice? caller: i am still weighing my options between bernie and biden. bits taken aback a little by biden's vote for the crime bill which her african americans and i am a black woman. i have a strong coalition behind me with black girls vote. member and we are considered the red army. voicewomen will have a

and put issues on the table that affect all women. i have some reservations because i have learned during one of the debates that he voted against the gun laws five different times. issue thatery strong brings home to me because i live in baltimore, maryland. with all the crime happening that andvoted against with all the school shootings, i am a schoolteacher. we have had to do the active shooter drills. all the shootings that have been happening at various public locations and for someone to vote against that that stands out as much as biden standing out for the crime bill that

affected a lot of african-american men. we can see the injustices in the legal system because of the young man that was just executed in alabama. he may have been involved in the incident with three wet police officers. he was not the shooter. the man who was the shooter -- i don't know if he was on death row -- but he was not put to death. the fact we are still executing needs to or men period stop. glad the candidates have been dwindled down so that we can have a real debate on the issues. i think would joe biden he just needs to slow down and think about what he's going to say, slow down and think about it because he does have a speech impediment. they are changes that he has mental issues.

45 has mental issues. andever released his taxes his medical reports. all other presidents in the race for the last 40 years have done that but they do not hold him accountable to the same standard. host: thank you for the call. this is from glenn who is a fact checker for the washington post. president trump tries to blame the obama rule and points out it never was a role. more details in the washington post. that goes back to guidelines put in place by george w. bush in 2004. maryland.oining us in caller: he is offering change and i'm not talking about socialism. i am talking about the roosevelt, president johnson

coalition that represents the working class for years and years. tountil recently, it used represent the working class, those left behind. anymoredon't work effectively, congress doesn't work anymore. we need change in bernie office change. he will not get a lot of change and he will not be a socialist capitalism isf -- not responding. democracy and capitalism is not responding to these people left behind. that is what trump got elected. bernie addresses those issues of the working class. the status quo and mr. biden is a good man. he may be better positioned to beat then bernie. but bernie represents taking on the establishment, the status

quo which is broken and trying to make change. they are goals of his. energy andhe everybody believes what he says. ofm very much in favor bernie for that reason because we need somebody to work for change. host: thank you for the call. postis from the washington but the headline said two new cases of the coronavirus in the d.c. area. overnight there is another case in fairfax, atginia with an individual the fort near lorton. state.ll from washington caller: i had been listening to the gentleman that was talking about fox news and i could not agree more.

they are trying to demonize joe biden like they did hillary clinton. she has got a brain tumor and all this and now he has got something wrong. i was just listening to fox news before you came on air and that was exactly the subject they were talking about. the poor sleepy joe is losing it. there is a conspiracy against bernie with the establishment. is a bunch of hogwash. votinghe voters that are for joe biden. it is the voters devoted in south carolina. that is why the others decided to get out of the race. their numbers were so low. if they had high numbers, they would stay in. behindrew their support joe biden. that is a good thing. host: lori, you are next in

hampton, georgia. who is your candidate? caller: joe biden. bernie sanders supporters -- he sounds real withbut when you start off a lie all your words become infallible. bernie sanders has enough supporters they can start the party which bernie actually represents. he is not a democrat. that is what gets me. you are running under the democratic party but you are not. wordsore, how can your stand? another thing, the pundits are --ing the democratic party

black woman vote on what fits the community. you have a president calling us sobs every time he gets the opportunity. who is who they are supposed to be. knowded president who i who they are. these other people are too far gone for me. i cannot support it. i love what bernie said but he needs to start a party. host: thank you for the call. bernie sanders supporters think he can pull off another michigan surprise. that is the headline. the tuesday primary with more than 120 delegates at state. here are the details. bernie sanders supporters in dearborn were guardedly

optimistic that the democratic primary with stem the establishment and give his campaign a needed boost ot. senator sanders, a vermont independent, he doubt a narrow victory. as a moreng in formidable candidate. press said that in the last two weeks biden thathed with vital wins have allowed him to grab the lead in the delegate count. the latest from the sanders campaign with this ad on the air. [video clip] >> when i argue we should freeze federal spending i met social security as well. i meant medicare and medicaid, i meant every solitary thing in

the government. i not only tried it once i tried it twice, i tried a third time, i tried it a fourth time. >> we have got some bad news for them. we are not going to cut social security. i am bernie sanders and i approve this message. host: affect your calls. idaho. joining us from c-span good morning to and all your listeners. i want to give a big shout out to c-span because it is the greatest political forum we have going. host: thank you for that. caller: i'm not sure what to do here. for the past 20 or 30 years we have had what i described to my matter as it doesn't whether it is a democrat on one

side of the quarter or a republican on the others, you still got a quarter. reason --at is the you can call that the establishment -- that is the reason we got trump. there was revolt against the establishment and i think bernie is trying to do the same thing on the flipside to show the other side but what we saw this last week was the establishment arms arms and -- joined and they said we are not going to let this happen. that is the big thing we have to deal with. all of these politicians changing parties.

you have trump who was a democrat and became a republican to get elected. you have senator warren who was a republican and became a democrat. you have got bernie who was a democrat, became independent. bloomberg was a republican than independent than a democrat. all it says is these people just want power. how do you sift through all that? host: thank you for the call. with half the country with cases of the coronavirus, over 100,000 cases worldwide and 3000 deaths, this washington post. days after matt gaetz were a gas mask on an emergency funding package he announced a resident in his district in florida had died from the coronavirus. this is the picture he tweeted

out wearing the gas mask. mocking the a $.3 billion in funding. he did vote in favor of it. "reviewing theg, coronavirus appropriation and going to the vote." a statement saying he was saddened to learn of the first fatality in his district. back to your phone calls. california, sherry you are next. caller: i am voting for bernie. i voted for bernie again and some of the things people have been saying, they are wrong. one, bernie has never been a democrat. he was something back in the 1960's but he has been an independent since he was in college. reason he hasn --

to register as a democrat is because this country will not allow anyone but republicans or democrats to run. bernie has been working with the democratic coalition in the senate for 40 years. he had to be a democrat to run but he is an independent. i think there are two in the senate -- maybe three. he voted against the bill -- the gun bill because of the other stuff they put in it. or did not put in it. he wanted some things in it that they did not do like protecting children and different things they put stuff in it that did not belong that would make america worse. that is what he did not vote for it. host: this is from joy who said, let us do the biden-bernie ticket and screw everything up. i don't care. do whatever wins.

done. the negative ads are out there as both candidates try to take a met each other. this latest from the biden campaign. [video clip] >> since obama lunch reelection. >> the president kicked off the 2012 reelection. >> we rallied together to defend our president and the progress he made. they had his back, he had his back, and you had his back. back in washington, there was one guy with another plan. >> i think it would be a good idea if president obama faced primary opposition. >> bernie sanders was seriously thinking about challenging our first african-american president . the atlantic reports bernie sanders told fellow senators he would take on obama and the team was absolutely panicked. obama's campaign manager knew it would be a threat every president who got a real primary has lost the general election.

when it comes to building a president obama's legacy, bernie sanders cannot be trusted. ♪ host: in addition to our coverage today of the sanders campaign both senator sanders and former vice president biden on the campaign joe tomorrow. we will have live coverage tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening in detroit, joe biden. also have the speeches and results tuesday evening. michael is joining us from memphis, tennessee. joe biden is your candidate? caller: he is. i am going blue all the way. a whole lot of these other guys need to watch out. i think they are going to take care of business this time. thank you. host: this is from bob on the facebook page. bernie is well-meaning but has to improve his standing with

african-americans. he has to prove he can get the young people out to vote. he has fallen short on both. we are asking democrats only in advance of the primary on tuesday, who is your choice and camping 2020? we are at the halfway mark in terms of delegate selection. harvey joining us from virginia. your candidate is bernie? caller: yes. i have a question. not declared have california yet? host: because of the enormous right in votes -- write in votes. caller: but bernie was leading -- hete and now it seems

won california. host: biden did better than expected. you reach the 15% threshold and the delegates are allocated proportionally. college buttoral that is we elected trump. host: right. caller: but -- host: you are confusing that with the general election. here is the latest delegate total according to the associated press. 627, senator sanders at 521, and tulsi gabbard has 2. caller: but you see bernie is an democratic leading but if the democratic party goes against him when the people are for him, then something is

wrong. host: he is an independent running for the democratic nomination. we will go to laura in massachusetts. who is your candidate? caller: i'm leaning toward bernie sanders. i'm not happy with biden. i think he has way too much baggage. i think he is just a politician. i don't really think he is sincere about much. i also know he stated he is going to bring back the obama affordable care act. that was the biggest tax increase on the working class and working poor. there were millions and millions of people that paid that mandate --ti-and did not have penalty and did not have health insurance. that is nothing the democrats don't talk about and i think that is their achilles heel.

that is not been addressed and so many people still do not have health insurance. not seemhat biden does to talk about policy. he seems to talk about abstracts. he is a pure politician. it is surprising to me he has gotten so many votes from southern african-americans who, frankly, are not doing so great. i don't know why they keep voting for the same and expect changes when they just keep voting for the same democratic machine that does not do much except raise taxes on the working class. host: thank you for the call. this is from elizabeth, love bernie but will vote for biden. that's my number one ejec objective. give mcconnell the boot. on the today show, this from the former vice president. [video clip] >> let's talk about mr. sanders.

he said, joe is running a campaign which is obviously heavily supported by the corporate establishment. what do you think about that argument? >> it is ridiculous. bernie, you got beaten by overwhelming support i have from the african-american community. you got beaten by suburban women, middle-class hard-working people. you have raised more money than i. >> the president has been watching the democratic primary and he has been weighing in on behalf of bernie. he said the system is rigged against sanders. the democrats are staging a coup against him. [laughter] do you think the president is rooting for sanders? >> the president does not want to face me because i will beat him. host: that on the nbc today

show. annette in queens, new york. who is your candidate? caller: it is biden. care.of all, the health we need, in my opinion -- host: turn your volume down or we will continue to hear feedback. caller: i support biden because of the health care. we need to amend it, not ended. host: we will go to billy in new york. caller: bernie. host: why? caller: biden has a lot of allows trump to hit him from the left and right. host: stanley, you are next for massachusetts. caller: i am a supporter of bernie and i think the democrats are making a big mistake by

pushing biden. we know what happened with hillary when they went with the moderate choice. that allowed trump to win. had he won got the nomination. he would have beaten trump and i think there is going to be a lot of bernie supporters who will not be inspired to come out and vote if biden gets the nomination. host: why do you say that? caller: because biden does not inspire anything. record for social security is not good. he voted against the increase in social security, he voted to take away social security, he is not a good candidate. he is not a progressive candidate. he does not come out with a

plan, he does not have a plan. he is relying on obama's plan that was halfhearted and did not include a public option. the were trying to satisfy insurance companies and drug manufacturers. biden is going to be a week choice. it will end up like it did with hillary. host: we are hearing from democrats only. your choice in this race. biden, sanders, joe numbers are on the screen. this from the sanders campaign. [video clip] >> bernie is somebody who has the virtue of saying exactly what he believes. great authenticity, great passion, fearless. he served on the veteran's committee and got things done.

i think people are ready for a call to action. they want honest leadership who cares about them. they want somebody who is going to fight for them and they will find it in bernie. feel the bern. >> i am bernie sanders and i approve this message. host: that was aimed at the african-american vote. .he former president page, ithe facebook would be fine with sanders. they need to consider stacey abrams as the running mate. you can send us a text message at (202-748-8003). peter in florida. biden is your candidate? caller: i think he is the best chance to be trump. the only reason the russians , theyo help sanders win figure the best chance to win

trump again is to put sanders there. they will call him a socialist. i have known a lot of republicans. i've been a democrat all my life and republican said they would vote for biden. if sanders runs, they will have to vote for trump again. if people do not realize russia is pushing sanders for that reason, the better wake up because if we give trump another four years, i am afraid of this country going deep into trouble. beat trump who would as that is the most important part of this election. host: let's go to david from liverpool, new york. your candidate? caller: i would support either one. my whole thing is to take out trump and i would like to point out to people about hillary , she had a nine point

undermined.she was the sanders people did not support hillary which led to trump. i don't care who the democrats voteut, everybody has to for the democratic person. thank you very much. host: i want to share with you this headline from the l.a. times. the grand princess cruise line located off the coast of san francisco is expected to dock tomorrow in oakland. 3500 people on board and several dozen confirmed cases of coronavirus. those with symptoms are expected to stay in california while the others will be sent to a military base in san antonio to be quarantined. the latest on that, just a number of developments, including three new cases of the coronavirus in the washington,

d.c. area and one in fairfax, virginia. three other cases in maryland. new york and california listed in states of emergency by the respective governors. ohio, who iston, your candidate? caller: i'm thinking bernie sanders. host: you are going to vote in the upcoming primary? caller: oh, yes. the problem with biden is this -- he is what the dnc gave us. to -- candidate who wants a boring candidate who wants to spoonfeed as small changes. look at what they have seen -- war, stagnant wages, unattainable housing, skyrocketing student debt.

focused on are zero where their next meal is coming thaninkey cannot about 10 years down the road. they are not going to shop for some and not offering change. this is what people gravitated toward trump. he promised all of those things and how did he deliver? he did not. he is a backstab or. er. host: next is john in boston. you are not sure who you support? caller: good morning. i want to make a suggestion. i watch c-span all the time. i think it would be good to have tulsi gabbard on to give her some tv time. host: let me jump in, we have tried on numerous occasions and

if she is watching, she is an open invitation to come to this network as all the candidates. it is their decision if they want to come on the network but we have tried repeatedly to get her on. we cover her events but it's been difficult to do an interview. it is not for lack of effort. caller: i'm glad to hear that. i'm sorry that she did not take because in this environment we are in, if you look at what is going on, we have three candidates right now that we are talking about. guys are in their high 70's and i think it would be good for this country to go all the way back to kennedy, john kennedy, and be a good idea to have someone that is a war

veteran. thats the type of woman has a moderate type of look and it would be healthy. host: thank you. again, there are many candidates who opted not to take advantage interviews which we regret but there is always an open invitation. jenny says, bernie sanders. he is focused on policy and cannot be bought. he is fighting for everyone. we need to say no to the status quo. bernie is the clear choice. a humanist who tells the truth and fights for the people. social security is now an issue in the democratic primary. this from the sanders campaign. [video clip] >> we have a deficit. with social security and medicare looming. would you look at those programs, age of eligibility, cost-of-living and put on the

table? >> you have to. one of the things the political advisor said to me is do not touch that. the american people are not stupid. it is a simple proposition. is not therity hardware. you have to put all of it on the table. >> everything? >> everything. >> people all over this country say that is not. uts. anybody who believes in cutting benefits, we will give them a political choice they cannot refuse. if they vote to cut social security, they may will not be returning to washington. [applause] i argue that we should freeze spending. i met social security, medicare, i meant every solitary thing in

the government. i not only tried it once, i tried it twice, a third time and a fourth time. >> we have got some bad news for them. we are not going to cut social security. we are going to expand benefits. [applause] i'm bernie sanders and i approve this message. host: that from the sanders campaign and this is from jan who says, the down ticket races are important. two people cannot stick to the one candidate. they need to look at the big picture. in kansasoining us city, missouri. who are you going to vote for? caller: i am voting for joe biden. i have been doing phone banking for his campaign and i hope he for vice kennedy iii president. is,so think the way bernie he seems to be attacking joe

rather than attacking trump. he is running against trump. he is too harsh about joe biden. he brings up things from the ancient past and he judges those things by today's standards and that makes no sense. you have to be within the timeframe that something occurred rather than just accelerate to 2020 and say this is the way that should have been. bernie votes no for everything. think he should be carrying on against biden the way he does rather than -- carrying on against trump. we will go to joyce from washington, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. host: you are on the air. biden: i am voting for

and stacey abrams is the perfect candidate. she can take over at any time, she is very smart, she's educated, she's black, she's a woman, and maybe that will quiet some of these women ever since they have not one. won. they didn't because they did negative votes. i'm glad i got to say something. host: glad to hear from you. time magazine of the double issue on the centennial of the women's suffrage movement. 100 women of the year and among those on the cover is ruth bader ginsburg. she was appointed during the clinton administration. iii is ourinson the guest at the top of the hour. his book, "coming home: how black americans will re-elect discussed. be

i'm supporting bernie sanders. i'm tired of the same old same old. i don't think joe biden -- he goes with the establishment. pressure,ts feeling he is going to give in. republicans don't want to work with us. we need someone like bernie sanders who is trying to go forward, he is not worried about what they think about him. he is just going to try to help the american people. another point i would like to make is when joe biden was vice dosident, for me he did not enough to push obama's agenda. president obama would put him in charge but he was not going around the country saying, let's support the jobs instill inwanted to

america. he did not push it enough for me. i think we should support something new. someone who really cares. it is time for america, for me, to live up to its promise to all americans which is to make the american dream come true by giving free medicare, free college for these young kids. host: thank you for the call. the biting campaign responding to the ads on social security. [video clip] town, parkland, las vegas, where we work, we worship, gun violence is of the soul of the nation. it has to stop. joe biden stood up the nra. he wrote the law banning assault weapons and limited the number of bullets in a magazine.

as president, he will beat the nra again and restore the soul of this nation. >> i am joe biden and i approve this message. host: that with support on the support bernie sanders had to the nra. the attack ads now on the air as the two candidates tried to differentiate themselves to voters. the next vote is scheduled in phoenix, arizona and will air on march 15. kevin in florida. caller: hello? host: turn the volume down or otherwise we will not be able to hear you. debbie in to california. caller: i support joe biden and i feel it is very important to get the down ballot people going. i hear this about people turning out and so far it turned out

that the turnout has been heavy for joe biden. is other thing i worry about i have not been thrilled seeing sanders put up falsified ads like president obama is supporting him and i see some of him and his surrogates not saying things that are true. that is disheartening to me. the last thing we need is anything that resembles donald trump. i think it is extremely important and i also wanted to hispanics, i believe, are the young people that help their parents along. i think they may have got them all to do that. once biden is the nominee, they have a lot riding on getting trump out and i think the latinos will show up. host: front page of the new york times with a photo of the woman

effective the coronavirus. just one of a number of stories developing over the last couple of days. italian officials sequester northern italy in an emergency ended behind the scenes look at the trump administration behind the coronavirus chaos at the white house. fears, confusion, and miscommunication marring a response. jerry is joining us from colorado springs, colorado. your candidate, who is it? sanderssanders, bernie afraid colorado is a conservative country. that weto let them know and i thinkchange need health e for sanders we have

would create a better life all the way down and keeping people off the street. host: pete from vista, california, you get the last word. your candidate is who? good morning. caller: yes, how are you doing? you know what? the democrats are wasting their time. i will vote for biden because he -- did you put that on tv? host: thank you for your call. your tweets and comments and the conversation continues on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. retired u.s. air force captain

vernon robinson is discussing his book, "coming home: how black americans will re-elect trump." in chair of the democratic party and author of bill press on his take. follow the washington journal and our guest this week is congressman from louisiana. his reporting his findings this month. here are some talking about what the republicans will join democrats in writing a joint climate report as well as fossil fuels. [video clip] >> you have heard folks say that we do -- we need to eliminate fossil fuels. i think it would be contrary to the very objectives that they are out there talking about and i think it would be contrary to the interest in terms of andoyment, wages, opportunities for americans.

there are areas where we have bipartisan consent. building on some of the excesses we have in recent years. there are other areas where i am very concerned about some of the statements we have heard from from leaders that i think would be very dangerous to the united states we are making sure we are pulling together our thoughts and whether we can incorporate not into the report we are sure yet we have to continue working together with members of both sides of the aisle and see where we can continue to build a consensus. host:host: this sounds a little bit more like an energy efficiency bill rather than a climate bill. and also in talking about that i was wondering if you could say something about the difficulty of having a climate bill when the president has declared the whole issue a hoax.

guest: it's not a bill it's actually a report. this is a report or strategy. second of all, i think that would be a fundamental mistake to separate the two or try to separate the two. when you look at the greatest success in reducing emissions not just in the united states but around the globe, it is actually a result of transitioning to cleaner fossil .uels something that may seem counterintuitive to folks. it is actually clearly supported by fact. the greatest emissions reduction we've had around the globe has been a result of transitioning to cleaner fossil fuels. host: republican congressman gary grace is our guest on c-span's newsmakers program as we discussed climate change and fossil fuels.

newsmakers is available on the free c-span radio app and follows the washington journal at 10:00 a.m. eastern time or online anytime at c-span.org. robinson, thecome book, coming home how black americans will reelect trump. why the book? guest: i working on the super pac to get 20% of the black vote for the president in eight states. the reason i thought it would be interesting to take a look at how did black americans become democrats from overwhelmingly for 71 yearse gop or so. host: bruce everly as your co-author. back in 2016 the president as a candidate received approximately 8% of the african-american vote. how does that compare to previous presidents and how do you get to 20% in 2020? guest: it is midland, higher

than goldwater, a couple other books. is lower than several presidents but it's interesting to take a . the gop occupied the moral high ground for 71 years. herbert hoover decided he wanted a lily white republican party in the south. stop meeting with black individuals re-segregated the white house. franklin cites him as the pivotal guy who started the exit us from the republican party for black americans. was atsome help and that the same time my parents and 6 million other individuals left the south and they were now voters in the north, midwest, and west. the fdr folks said we can't sell

the democratic party these individuals from the south note the democratic party and the south is the party of segregation jim crow laws, the clan, etc.. they launched a public relations campaign. fdr and his wife were doing the same things republicans used to do, meeting with black leaders making sure it was in the prominent black papers at the time. eleanor was hosting either the wives of prominent black men or prominent black women in their own right. he got 30 something. we are not sure. gallup started polling at 35 and he got 76% of the black vote in 1936. essentially the short version of the book is, republicans dropped the ball,

conservative movement dropped the ball not enforcing the civil rights act -- not enforcing the 15th amendment and not supporting the civil rights act bill buckley was more concerned with polish shipyard workers voting in free elections than he was my mother and grandmother voting in free elections in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. host: you write if donald trump wins 20% or 30% of the black vote he will have taken a major step toward reestablishing the nearly unbreakable alliance black americans had within the republican party after the assassination of abraham lincoln. to do so he must end the division that has existed between republicans and black americans since 1964. my question, how do you get there? admit republicans need to having once had the moral high ground they lost it.

as a precursor to talking about regaining the moral high ground on a range of issues including school choice, jobs, wages going up, performance on the economy, securing the border, defending the second amendment and criminal justice reform. the second thing that has to happen, the super pac's are going to do their jobs. there's always three of them that will broadcast those messages greatly to black voters. the trump campaign committed to doing so i believe. big question is what will the republican party do because the republican party has not asked for the business in 70 years and has created a vacuum where democrats can say , voteng about republicans democratic because republicans want to kill your dog and your mom. that isolation has destroyed the brand which is why we say the

president can turn fdr strategy on its head in order to get the 20%. aboutthe president talked one of the moments in the 2016 campaign in which he told african-american voters what have you got to lose. he felt it was the right thing to do and the president told reporters he thought that was one of the most significant moments in the 2016 campaign. would you agree? guest:guest: i think it was a significant moment in american history or at least this part of american history because the gop has not asked black voters for their support. the president was actively campaigning for black support with that statement. $10 millionending -- ig the super bowl believe there is now one of the

women that he hardened is now in johnfor congress lewis is see in georgia. host: this is from the washington post back in january. the headline black americans deeply pessimistic about the country under trump that me show you what the post is reporting. president trump made a stark appeal during the 26 election when he asked what if you got to lose. -- with as later deeply pessimistic assessment of their place in the u.s. under a leader seen by an overwhelming majority as racist. the findings come from the washington post poll of african-americans nationwide which reveals fears about whether their children will have a fair shot to succeed and a belief that white americans do not fully appreciate the discrimination black people experience while personally optimistic but their own lives black americans offer of weaker view about their community as a

whole. they expressed determination to try to limit the president to a single term in office. guest: well, there's so many things -- i'm surprised washington post has not run i runs wild -- there are a number of polls that show the president is in striking range of that 20% necessary to win in the swing states. i was in school choice warrior but i was always questioning whether school choice and educational opportunity would ever translate and support at the polls. expandings were political capital and principal beneficiary were democrats, their children, etc.. that was answered in florida

where 18% of african-american women, 100,000, three times ron desantis margin of victory voted not by race for the black candidate or not by party for the democratic candidate, but voted for ron desantis and elected him on the school choice issue to the governorship in florida. there was a hill harris poll six weeks ago and it said black voters overwhelmingly support democrat. trump with only 15%. 15% you and the entire south. maybe even virginia. poll, mostin that polls do not have a big enough sample size in other words the margin of error for black voters is larger than the entire population. maleshat 31% of black support the president against a generic democrat. a number of other polls talk about job approval or something

other than voter intention. they asked the voter intention question. there are a number of other polls that have 49% of african-americans approving of the presidents economic job performance. have are polls that majority of african-americans saying they believe they will be better off at the end of the trump administration than they were at the end of the obama administration. and across-the-board on any metric you want to talk about, for instance, at this point in the obama administration black unemployment was three times higher than it is today. folks say trump is a racist but for 69 years of his life but he

was vetted by the establishment. giving him awards. in one case the same award for courage on civil rights as rosa parks and muhammad ali on the same day. you can either believe that he magically became a racist lee was 70-- racist when he you can believe that he must have run against hillary clinton for president and beat her which is why everyone is saying he's a racist now or the democrats are. host: we welcome our listeners on c-span radio. vernon robinson his book is coming home, how black americans will reelect trump. a airears retiring as force captain now conservative activist and let's get your phone calls. tyrone in new york city.

democrats line, good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call and thank you mr. robinson for your service. i thank you for your dedication to what you believe in. my problem with the republican party is, yes they were the party of the abolitionists and the party of freedom and the rights of black people and like you said, they gave us up. we did not give them up. choose theave to lesser of two evils. and when we see a party that is actively working to destroy our ,ights, closing polling sites like this situation, by trying to keep us from being involved in the major core of this american system and voting.

you put our back against the wall. they put our back against the wall at every turn and then they tell us to accept that that becominght against us looked at as human beings in this country. we've got to continue to fight against this whole idea of white superiority whereas they continue to maintain the power over us as black people. host: thanks for the response. guest: i think the caller for the call. there are a number of mia culp itsthe gop can make over failures in the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's to effectively support enforcement of the voting rights amendment. 15th it would have been nice as

there were some conservatives or republicans who did the freedom rides as opposed to bill buckley deriding them. whatever you want to say about john lewis in his young days he was absolutely fearless and the freedom riders wrote out there wills because they expected to be killed. haveuld have been nice to republicans taking those risks. one of the outcomes of that -- there's a long discussion about why goldwater did not support the civil rights act. what the conservative movement politicalforced the and spiritual leadership of the black community into the arms of the far-left including my mother who was registering voters in the south but there was no conservative group registering voters in the south. there was no republican group registering voters in the south in the 1940's and my mother was run out of her hometown because of threats by klansmen.

however, this harangue of voter suppression is trotted out every two years by the democrats because they have to choose black turnout. when back voters here the democratic party has aligned with planned parenthood and is morally responsible for the deaths of 20 million black --ldren and now plan bear planned parenthood is selling -- stoppingts school choice and supporting the union and met the parents, cannot create a private-sector caller ared the your relatives working because i believe they are working their wages are going up and they are going to vote over their own situation as opposed to the talking points of the democratic party. host: thank you for waiting. caller: good morning.

you. my question to the guest is the issue of unemployment for black men in particular. there's a report that says in major cities where blacks are the majority unemployment for black men is five times to seven times higher than it is -- higher for black men that it is for white men in these majority black cities. where is the effective employment being utilized in what city? as new york and atlanta, houston, these are city --ions so the employment 18%, flinthigan michigan which is like 80% black

and the unemployment rate is astronomically high. atlanta, houston. you look at the top 25 cities that is majority black, the unemployment rate for black men is preposterous. host:host: we will get a response thank you. guest: i would ask the caller to take a look at those numbers again. particularly in atlanta. atlanta is thriving and you 6.9t get to a 5.9 or unemployment rate with black men at 15%. there is a problem in some of the northern and midwestern cities that have been run by democrats for 70 years. they have so destroyed the infrastructure the schools are caused they have

problems with minority employment opportunities. one of the things in addition to supporting school choice and not killing 20 million black babies the current administration has pursued criminal justice reform and is involved with other steps for nonviolent nonsexual offenders to smooth their way back into this which is a local issue. you need to find a way to house the felons because in many places that cannot get housing. you need to find a way to address driver's license issues. many times drivers licenses are no good and they will be back in the court driving without a license or what have you. , theottom line is expansion of the economy, raising wages helps all boats and it has helped black americans close the gap faster than anybody else.

host: in the book coming home you write, whether a stream or a river, black americans are leaving the democratic party to join the party of donald j. trump. is the republican party the party of trump? guest: pleased to be able to announce on c-span that the ,arty of mitt romney, bob dole john mccain is dead. it's not coming back. there was a republican party and .t was a sorry party we talked about the party of donald trump because among other things this president is asking

for black folks something that has not happened for 70 years. host: what is your reaction when the president is very critical of john mccain it not only in life but also in death? does that become too personal? too toxic? guest: i was very disappointed. i cannot speculate what i would have done or not done in the president's shoes. host: even after he passed away? guest: i believe john mccain did great damage to this country because of him in part it failed tokeep its promise substantially reduce the impact of obamacare. perhaps taking a shot at somebody who's dead is beyond didpale but john mccain great damage to this country by

stopping republicans from reducing some of the most egregious aspects of the affordable care act. it is now gop care before they -- because they failed to do anything about it. caller: sir i have a few things i want to ask you and some comments. back in the day when black folks i held protesting for everyone civil rights and every time black folks got on their feet to have something right to do something good for the united states and building their community our communities always got corrupted and taken down by fear we would do to them what they did to us. that's not true. we built this country and we let other people come over here and

democrats voting and fighting for people's rights come over here. like the koreans, the indians, the mexicans, and the africans. they come over here to america and these people say american blacks are lazy and don't want to do nothing. that's not true. we have young people out here today we could give them an opportunity and they will go get it. america always wants to keep people down so we don't get more powerful. you are talking about the republican party, they've let all these people come into this country. they did not have to obey none upthe rules when opening business and doing the stuff they have to do. they let these people come into this country and do what they want to do. they bought up everything. white america is math. you sold it to the highest bidder. every time we build our community -- for an example when the black people -- white people

got nervous and got mad. host: thank you for the call. guest: i think the caller for the question. i would ask if this country is so bad what country would you prefer to be in? because that is a no-brainer. everybody wants to be here and everybody will be here if the democrats see their open borders policy. at least for now it is the place where you don't have to do what your father did. you can go beyond that and achieve. wasuld like to point out it the democrats primarily who were restricting black economic activity for most of the history was the swapry it in both parties that were trying to open the borders for cheap labor undercutting the wages of

folks. in the new republican party we are not committed to open borders. we are committed to securing the borders and deporting the people were not supposed to be here. we are experiencing unparalleled opportunity. i was in baltimore yesterday. excited to see the republican primary for mayor. and i encourage the folks to talk about three things, the first is, school choice, to get more kids out of disastrous public schools that can't afford to send a bus to protest down in washington but can't send afford to heat or cool classrooms. the second item is testing to adopt a test like the measure of academic progress northwest education associates in case your listeners or viewers want

to take a look at it. helpers are given tools to parents help children. total overhaul of postsecondary experiences. i talked to an old girlfriend recently and she is 67 now and has an electrical contracting firm and confined nobody to hire to do electrical work in atlanta . the average age of an electrician in this country is 58. the same with plumbers and skilled trades. --ces where you can earn welding, huge amounts of money with no college debt. as opposed to this incessant drumbeat of sending folks to liberal arts college programs where they get a degree that's useless and movement their parents basement. might actually win

some offices in full tour. host: if you can go back to the campaign of 1964, from your standpoint in trying to get the african-american vote what was the biggest mistake very goldwater made besides voting against the civil rights act? where their policies that he had that black americans cannot relate to? what were the mistakes? host:host: the civil rights act of 1964 was a pretty big one. guest: we scoured the country looking for the 83 page document that made the case for why he should oppose the civil rights act on constitutional grounds. written by a young lawyer at the time by the name of robert bork. we also looked for the 15 page wasary of that opinion that goldwater's personal attorney, william h rehnquist.

those documents had been taken by the body snatchers i believe. it is an interesting discussion. goldwater himself says he was wrong. the reality was voting rights were not supported in the south. some of the other issues would have taken care of themselves if black voters were enfranchised. why the, the reason green book was around was that white individuals were denying the english common law of feeding and housing people when there was no other place to be fed were housed across the south so that this was -- and conservatives did not have an answer other than move. where in some cases the police would not allow black citizens to even leave the oppressive atmosphere in the south. , is there areue some southern strategy.

goldwater made a speech 10 days before the election caret across the south saying he would support civil rights laws of the united states and if you're going to cater to the racist element that is not a very good idea. about the nixon's southern strategy. nixon came into office with 5% of black kids in the south and integrated schools. at the end of his first term it was 95%. it meant john mitchell was breaking need -- breaking kneecaps to enforce orders and you do that is not how that. the last thing i want to share with the viewers, please name one democrat -- a southern democrat who voted against the civil rights act of than strom thurmond and they will find it is a challenging task because none of them did. both the members of congress who

voted against the civil rights act and the governors who opposed it. will connor who was not a , theyor but public safety all were democrats until the day they died. there was no southern strategy. there was notion which. this wish -- there was no switch. democrat propaganda talking about the 60's. there were mistakes made but the switch was going on a long time before that. host: let's turn to bill joining us from las vegas, nevada. our guest is vernon robin. his book is -- vernon robinson. his book is, coming home. caller: i agree about the trade school aspect freight -- ,frican-americans, caucasians no matter what race or gender of , trade schools are a

perfect fit for all young people . considering the huge debt college puts upon people it is ridiculous. guest: i subscribed to those views heartily. in davidson county north carolina there is a welding feature -- welding teacher who has to go out and get equipment and materials from local businesses because the program is inadequately funded i the state of north carolina and the local supplement from the county. his kids graduate and walk across the stage they can go to work as a welder the next day. the huge salary with no debt. we need to take a look at the death of the shop classes. otherwise it's going to be really rough when you have to do your own plumbing.

host: joanna is joining us from damascus, maryland. caller: i have a couple points to make. time, thecoln's republicans were considered liberals. even the radical people like daddy's stevens and charles sumner that pushed lincoln -- --e thaddeus lincoln thaddeus stevens and charles sumner that pushed lincoln. the northern democrats became the liberals. it was a switched position and johnson said after he signed the civil rights bill, i've lost the south and the south has been solidly red, the deep south, since that time. .et's go forward to trump first of all, i want to say something, comment a little off topic that you mentioned before about open borders, democrats

believe in open borders. that is baloney. they don't believe in treating people like animals, calling them diseased saying they are in infestation. proposing solutions such as modes with snakes and alligators. that's what they don't believe in. they believe in treating people with human dignity. host: thank you for the call, joanna. guest: your problem is at least 20% of black voters don't believe their sons should have to learn spanish to get a job. an assistant manager at a mcdonald's. they are concerned that it seems where did all the black tellers go in the banks. they were replaced by people who speak spanish or bilingual because the banks want to do business with illegals. the open borders policies -- the thing i invite the viewers get at them -- did democrats support

open borders or not? those policies are a dagger at the black middle class acquiring schoolteachers to learn spanish to keep their jobs in the dallas unified school system is going to unemployed black teachers which is the basis of the black middle-class. 20% of them will respond to that dagger by not voting for the people trying to cut their throats. with regard to the republican party being the party of liberalism and liberation, still the party of liberation. democrats allied with planned parenthood to kill black babies and sell their body parts. toreduce charter schools stop school choice. you guys can continue to run on that if you like but in florida it cost you the governorship. it will cost to the presidency

if you continue to oppose black parents, particularly black mothers getting their kids into schools through school choice. you need to learn how to create a private sector job because you have not been able to do so. most elected officials have not had one. you have two strategies to reduce unemployment, one is to so discourage workers including black men able-bodied black men without dependents that they stop searching and you put them on welfare. the president is saying 19 -- it case and he is the just did not say that. he also created more jobs than there are people to fill them. we will have to agree to disagree. the idea that republicans somehow became racist is ridiculous on its face. why would black voters move back into the south when they are almost all run by republicans,

if that were the case? what happened in the south was air conditioning, business moving down there with the republicans from the north and pro-business atmosphere that propelled the republican party to a majority. the racist allstate is the democratic party. host: does the obama white house deserve at least some of the credit for the strong economy? you look at what he inherited and where things were when he left office. guest: black housing continued to go down. it started sliding in the last term of the bush administration. it continued to slide and did not bottom out until the trump administration. i don't see how the policies the president supported did anything to help the economy.

i don't see how the policies fdr worsenthing other than and lengthen the great depression. cut taxesgulation and and you get higher consumer confidence. that's what turns this economy around. the idea that obama is somehow responsible but it is curious the president is doing such a bad job why is the former president trying to take credit for it? host: for the most part this is a youth movement. this is a new generation of black americans educated upwardly mobile professional and tired of the broken promises of the democratic party. it is the first generation of black voters who did not experienced the horrors and dangers of progressive segregation or the nearly universal attitude among white american that they were superior

to black american. the book is titled coming home how black americans will be electron. tavarez is our next caller from athens, georgia. caller: good morning. how much do i love c-span? thank you mr. robinson for your book. thank you for your response to joann. keep calling into c-span. don't cut their television off we've got to move on to the next caller. also, we've got to run these callers we've got to get more callers to get more feedback. it's borders language culture. mr. trump is carrying that banner. spentney that was not

gladly disbursed under mr. trump netting him a consistent gdp growth. revenue for blacks, whites and small american is in his owners. -- has had a high -- he is my knee growing in the white house. he's got -- he will keep america great. been disadvantaged. they've been disenfranchised but they don't need to be mad. they need to become successful when the opportunity presents itself. host: thank you for the call from athens, georgia. guest: i think the caller looking forward to going down to georgia to the publican convention in april. state convention where we will continue to press the grand game

with a little booklet called whichlack america great repeats the idea that somehow 70.p came racist at quotes democrats saying dumb things which there are a lot of things to quote. the six inch issues we spoke of previously. borders language culture. host: we will to nora in the bronx new york. caller:caller: let me start off with you mr. robinson. trump has been a racist all of his life. his father supported discrimination in housing here in new york. he attacked the central park five and took out ads against those young men who were exonerated years later. he never apologized.

the middle-class working people and working people across this country, what did tax cuts do for them? it went to corporate america. right here in new york i have to pay more. i can't duck real estate taxes that i pay. my family, my children live in new york and new jersey can't do that. when he got into office one of the first things he did was to try and go after health care. as a retired health care worker professional, everybody needs health care. why would you attack the aca? attacked our, he first african-american president. he had to prove that he was a college graduate. where he went to school. he had to prove he was born in america. this man cares for no one.

he attacks everybody. he's equal opportunity with hispanics, women, african-americans, and all. host: your response? guest: you won't be surprised that i will agree to disagree with you. your taxes are too high and your beef is not with donald trump. who getth the lunatics elected to public office. to maybe elect some republicans to cut your taxes. with regard to the aca it's unconstitutional. americans should not be forced by anything and certainly not health insurance. the bernieike one of sisters. if you support the aca, it will collapse and you will end up with a single-payer plan. your medical care will look a lot like venezuela, which would

be bad. host: i want to go back. we talk about this washington post survey. it's a survey of just over 1000 african-americans. nearly two thirds of black americans saying it is a bad time to be a black person in the u.s., 65 percent surveyed saying it is bad to be black in america . 70% do not trust community police and 56% rate the national economy as negative. to stay awayneed from the cool lay of the talking points of the washington post and the new york times. on any index that he would like to discuss black voters are better off in this economy than they were under obama at any point in their administration. 20% of black voters are going to not subscribe to the talking

points of the left and take a look at -- you can vote to go back to the bad old days if you like. one of the great things about this country is you can impose more abortions, more school stagnantewer jobs, wages and everything else that happens under democrat rule. surroundingst your . in urban areas in the north and midwest. take a look at nagasaki and hiroshima. it is easier to survive a nuclear blast than 70 years of democrats running your city. in flint, where the water is undrinkable. again, i have a problem with that pole because it does not seem like reality. voters have a choice they can go back to the bad old days of no economic opportunity, you can surrender your guns which is lunacy.

every black person in america should be armed. not this armed and for good reason. host:host: the book, coming home how black americans will reelect trump. vernon robinson the third a retired air force captain. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you. host: we continue the conversation with author and columnist bill press, joining us as the washington journal continues. sunday morning the eighth of march. we are back in a moment. ♪ >> since you can't be everywhere , there is c-span. our campaign 2020 programming differs from all other political coverage for one simple reason, it's c-span.

we brought you an unfiltered view of government every day since 1979 and this year we are this november. in other words, your future. ,o this election season unfiltered. see the biggest picture for yourself and make up your own mind. with c-span's campaign 2020 brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> tonight on q and a, peggy wallace kennedy, daughter of former for -- former or term alabama -- george wallace talks about her father's controversial career. we took our youngest son who was nine at the time to the martin luther king museum .istorical site in atlanta

we went to his church and his .rave the museum was being newly constructed at that time. we came to the exhibit, alabama exhibit and it showed edmund pettus bridge, the bombed out baptist church, firehouses and georgeirmingham and wallace standing in the schoolhouse door. and burns looked up at me and he sad.-- he was so why did poppa do those things to other people? and it broke my heart. and i said, poppa never told me why he did those things other but i know he was wrong so maybe it will just have to be up to

you and need to help make things right. >> march tonight at 8:00 p.m. on c-span's q&a. washington journal continues. host: we like to welcome back bill press, author, talk show host, new podcast. about some breaking news on this sunday. first from the sanders campaign reverend jesse jackson endorsing senator bernie sanders. is this significant? guest: i think it is huge for bernie sanders particularly in michigan. jesse jackson has a large following there. -- has been ay leader in the democratic party. prominent african-american one of the leading african-americans in the country. -- a politician who has appealed to

working-class americans. i think that is very good for bernie sanders going into this next -- i don't know what we call this tuesday. there's some pretty important states particularly in the state of michigan. host:host: does reverend jackson still have a following? is he still relevant? guest: he still doesn't and i think always will. his peak was when he ran for president in 1988 and gave that magnificent speech at the democratic convention. he still a major leader in the african-american community. host: senator kamala harris endorsing joe biden. guest: my adopted state of california i must say, having been there 30 years democratic chair of california. my home state is the state of delaware -- the adopted state of

joe biden. futureort of like the and past leadership of the african-american community with jesse jackson in one direction and kamala harris coming up. very significant that she endorsed joe biden. she did not endorse right away. i think she wanted to see who was able to bring in the new democrats. -- energized democratic base. do well in south carolina where she had hoped to do well and i was wondering what she might do. i thought she might endorse biden. coming again into these next for primary states, huge joe biden. very significant. host: doing so in this video announcement released this morning from the biden campaign. senator kamala harris.

alabama i arrived here to commemorate the 55th anniversary of bloody sunday. i will be walking across the edmund pettus bridge again with john lewis with so many leaders and fighters. i'm here thinking about all of the folks who for generations fought and died for our civil rights and fought help our nation achieve its ideals. you guys know we still have yet to achieve those ideals but one of the greatest things about us is we are willing to fight to get there. i just wanted you guys to know you've been supporting me for so long. i just wanted you to know i have decided i am with great enthusiasm going to endorsed joe biden for president of the united states. i believe in joe. i've known him for a long time. one of the things we need right

now they as a leader who really does care about the people and who can unify the people. i believe joe can do that. i am supporting joe because i believe he is a man who has lived his life with great dignity. who hasublic servant always worked for the best of who we are as a nation and we need that right now. they're so much at stake in this election so join me in supporting joe and let's get this done and come and hang out. we will be in detroit monday night. i will you later. host: we will be covering that campaign rally in detroit part of the campaign 2020 coverage. why today? why not a few days ago before the california primary? guest:guest: i was wondering the same thing. a very powerful video spoke directly to her people write from the heart no doubt about her enthusiasm. the reality of it i think she will be effective in michigan i

don't know why she waited. i was waiting for her after south carolina to come out for somebody for the california primary. is significant. kamala harris is significant. i'm waiting for elizabeth warren. i think that is a really important question. ran a tremendous campaign i think. made a great impact on that race . at one time it looked like she was going to be the progressive alternative to whoever emerged as the more centrist candidate. the fact that she did not endorse bernie sanders right away i think is significant. i'm not saying she will not but it was not an automatic. i don't not know what that speaks to. she can still end up endorsing joe biden. host: you wrote the following on this democratic primary. "it is looking more and more like biden is the candidate who

can motivate the greatest number of candidates -- gray's number of democrats to turn out against donald trump. that is the only issue democrats should care about which is why i ."st my ballot for joe biden you are friends with senator bernie sanders. guest: i am. i'm not abandoning bernie sanders. i think we have to step back from the second and give credit to bernie sanders. in many ways bernie sanders has won his crusade. he has reshaped and reformed the democratic party which is what he started out to do with his mission in 2016, which is why i supported him in 2016 because i felt the democratic party needed a kick in the ass and needed a shakeup. that twotting so parties were too much the same. democratic party had gotten away from its base. host: wasn't bernie sanders at

your campaign talking to shed your house talking about running? first kitcheny cabinet meeting or campaign strategy meeting at our house on capitol hill, carol and i hosted 12r carol's beef stew with veteran campaign political campaign aids i was able to put together to listen to bernie and hear his ideas and give their advice about whether it was realistic. but bernie's mission was to reshape and redirect the democratic party get back to its roots. everybody is talking about the bernie sanders -- running on the bernie sanders platform. there may be differences in how far and fast they go but everyone is talking about raising the minimum wage, everyone is talking about universal health care. everyone is talking affordable college tuition and getting rid of college debt. this is the sanders agenda with the hands of being the person to

carry that agenda into november 2020 is the question. i contact to when i look at what happened in these primaries, turnout is so important. there was a surge of turnout. 70% up in virginia over what we saw for barack obama in 2012. that turnout went to joe biden. new voters went to joe biden. i think the person who demonstrated that he can bring out the disaffected, bring back those blue-collar working-class americans, boulder americans, african americans in particular who really could decide this election, joe biden is the one to deliver on them. as far as i'm concerned and every democrat i've talked to feels the same way, there's one issue, it's not our youth of the left or the right or the center of health care, it's who can beat donald trump.

who can get bit of the most incompetent corrupt president we've had in our lifetime. host: david wasserman saying this race is close to being over. if joe biden is michigan is an owner for this visit over for bernie sanders? guest: i am not the statistician . the people you and i would look to, david wasserman being number one, save joe biden wins michigan in effect bernie sanders could never catch up. joe biden walking to the convention with enough delegates to secure the nomination. from eric is joining us bill press his adopted home state of california. caller: thank you. bill press back in the day on kmbc. .- k abc i'm working on a unity issue. how do we bring this country -- of question is, i see one

the biggest unity issues we -- -- militarys support -- nondemocratic military support that it is attack against the christian church. supplying arab muslims with non- -- with weapons is attack against the christian church. it will bring all the evangelists to the issue. let joe biden and bernie sanders know that this is an issue. when trump is dancing around with the arab muslims. this is an attack against the christian church that we need to say something about an being attacked all across africa, even back to america. they are attacking the church with this money and we can stand united and be bold with it. i thank you for the opportunity

to speak against this battle. upst: i think you're getting early in california as well. thank you for getting up early in the state of california. you are right. the challenge is to unite the democratic party, young, gay, latino,, white, asian, everyone. i do believe the person who has the best chance of doing that is the former vice president joe biden. he may be second on that list. the number one person, i think, who can unite the democratic party is donald trump. i think he will be the number one motivator for people getting out to vote in 2020. on the point of saudi arabia, i would say it is long past time when it does not matter -- a republican or democratic president of the united states -- has to say a lot of what saudi arabia -- it has been a

great ally for us a long time, but a lot of what they stand for, a lot of what they represent, a lot of what they mn wrong. is just da we should say so and call them out. look at the war on yemen which they are pursuing with our tax dollars and equipment they bought from us and look at the latest where in bs, the crown prince, has again locked the members of the royal family, put them in exile because they there disagree with some of the things he is doing in the government. this has never been a democracy but this is getting more and more of an extreme authoritarian role, not to mention the murder of jamal khashoggi, which donald trump has never condemned in bs for being behind and there's no doubt he was behind it. it is time we stopped looking gather way when it comes to

saudi arabia. you can listen to bill press on the bill press pot, which is downloaded twice a week. he is the author of a number of "buyers wars: a look at the trump presidency." just a moment. buyer's remorse was about the obama presidency. i felt he left -- let progressives down. and the early bernie sanders meetings, getting together. host: and your other book "toxic talk," which came out in 2010. guest: about talk radio. still toxic. host: what you think of rush limbaugh? guest: a fading giant.

i do not think anybody has had the impact of talk radio the american people that rush limbaugh did. he has lost a lot of his clout. he has become just a toady of donald trump and when you just jump into the pocket of any one politician or political party, you lose your credibility as a talk show host. het: that moment when got the congressional medal of freedom? guest: i think it is one of the most disgusting moments in my lifetime and the history of this country. rush limbaugh is an out and out racist, and to be honored with the presidential medal of freedom, which has gone to such great americans as martin luther king jr. and rosa parks or great people like mother teresa -- rush limbaugh does not the long in the same building with them, let alone to wear the same honor. host: certainly part of the

motivation by the president is because he is battling stage four cancer. guest: i'm sorry. there are a lot of people with coronavirus today, too. that does not mean they deserve the medal of honor. i have a friend who is dying as we speak of pancreatic cancer. with thething to do awarding of the medal of honor. host: let's go to akron, ohio. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. thank you for c-span. really like the idea of talking to bill press. i still think of myself as a young whippersnapper. i import -- i'm 56 years old. mcgovern whenorge i was 19 years old back in 1972, and of course, shortly after that defeat, i played the song "massachusetts" on my turntable

about 40 times a day. my first four elections, my candidates won a total of two states. sanders reminds me a lot of george mcgovern. i admire them both. but i don't think i can vote for him. othersthe democrats or would live up to the idea as bad as the democratic party may be treating bernie sanders, you can't compare that to the way the gop treated john mccain in south carolina. no one has ever accused bernie sanders of having a black child out of wedlock in 2000. john mccain was a maverick back then. and furthermore, he was a war hero. i admire bernie sanders. he's not a war hero.

is a great guy, but john was a war hero. if i can add one more comment please -- president trump will not reveal his tax returns. in my book, andy -- any candidate for the white house who refuses to reveal his tax returns, if they do not have the courage to do that, they are a chicken and they belong on the menu at kfc. and mr. mcconnell should be the first customer to walk in there. host: thank you for the call. guest: i support a lot of the same people he has. i was in briefings with george mcgovern in 1972. i am sureding, steve, one of your favorite books "fear and loathing on the campaign all of our the mcgovern campaign. hunter thompson. a wild, rollicking book. i read it along time ago. it is so stunning how relevant it is even today.

say -- i don't think the democratic party is out to get bernie sanders and i think a vote for bernie sanders is not a wasted vote at all. again,sanders is really, giving new direction and purpose to the democratic party. but now i think we have to have a very honest debate the train -- i call it evolution and revolution. they both want to get to the same place. bernie sanders is more revolution, let's do it, boom, now. if we end up with joe biden, it's more of the experience, seasoned evolution. we will get there, but it will take a little longer to get there. i think it is a very honest vapor the democratic party -- debate for the democratic party. host: by all accounts one of the the pivotal moments was endorsement by congressman jim clyburn. this is what the associated

press is riding -- clyburn a bust as moment changing the landscape in 2020. political endorsements are often ought of as having political half, but the backing of jim clyburn seems to of been the endorsement that brought biden's candidacy back from the brink following lackluster .erformances in a early states it was a way to signal for black voters in south carolina that biden would be the candidate to stand up to those interests. he scored a blowout margin of victory of nearly 30 points. guest: i have been around politics a long time. been a candidate, state chair, run campaigns. i have always had a jaundiced view about endorsements. yeah, you try to get as many as you can, but in the end they do not amount to a hill of beans. what, a big, huge exception is the endorsement of jim clyburn

for joe biden for the south american primary. 50% of african-american voters said that endorsement was why they voted for joe biden exit polls. guest: incredible. history books will be written. not just in south carolina. you watch. in michigan and other southern states -- mississippi, alabama, the southern states to come -- and i have to say, jim clyburn is -- the reason it had such an impact is he is such a good, decent man and has served that state and this country for so long and people really respect him and look up to him. but to a lesser extent, but the endorsement of amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg and beto o'rourke were very significant, too in joe biden's super tuesday wins. they came out right away. it took a lot of guts for them to do that, a lot of humility for them to do that.

they wanted it. i recognize it is not going to come to me. i will give it to the person i think will be the best. i think you say, minnesota, amy klobuchar, without a doubt. think thatyou senator sanders did not even reach out to jim clyburn to even ask for the endorsement? guest: i don't know. can't believe he didn't -- that jim clyburn said sanders did not reach al. he said it would not have made a difference, but you would have thought he have made the effort. guest: if i had been involved in the sanders campaign, i certainly worth encouraged him to reach out and not take anyone for granted and let him know he would be honored to have his endorsement. as a price he didn't. from we have a call vermont for bill press. you are on. interesting.

i think the democrats would have a better chance of beating trump .ith bernie then sleepy joe -- then sleepy joe. joe has that ukraine thing. also nancy pelosi has a son over there in the ukraine and another democrat has a son over there in the ukraine and i've got a feeling it's joe -- if joe gets the nomination, we will find out about those people also. host: mark, thank you for the call. guest: i think you are watching too much fox news, mark. sonn't know about pelosi's or any other son and ukraine, but frankly the question is so what? they have looked into it, looked into it and look into it. there is nothing there. there's nothing there. up inat ever issues come

2020, you know trump is going to throw the kitchen sink at joe biden, including ukraine, but i don't think it will be very effective. again because "the new york times" and others have done all the research on the ukraine. you know the media would have reported it. they have come up with zero. forget it, mark. move on. illinoism what he can, , democrat -- what keegan, illinois, democrats line. morning.ood i was born and raised in south carolina. you know what i went through. anyway, the gentleman you had him before, i don't know about him. i believe jesse jackson endorsed bernie because he never did care for president obama, and i think that is how he is able to get

back at president obama. and for bernie, you know what i don't like about him? when he said, i'm running for president, he said he is independent and when he wants to run for president, he becomes a democrat. and he is so angry. i don't like that. he reminds me of trump. but anyway, thanks for listening. have a good day. you for the call. speaking of president trump, i want to share with you -- this is a headline from "the new york at the white house. you have health officials quoted in this story saying we need to be prepared for significant disruptions in our lives. the president saying this thing is going to go away, it will be a miracle, calling it a hoax. guest: you know, this is the first non-self-inflicted crisis of the trump administration to read all these other things, trump has kind of caused himself, right? access hollywood, charlottesville stuff.

this is for real and this is something i think all americans are concerned about and it's not very comforting when you have health officials saying one thing and the president saying the exact opposite. and i don't understand it. look, this is not some democratic party plot. this is not something obama cooked up. this is not something the democratic party is doing to try to undermine donald trump. this is a serious public health and economic crisis where we expect our government and business leaders and health officials to get on top of and bring this thing under control and we have to have confidence in our leaders at a time like this. i have total confidence in anthony fauci. i have zero confidence in donald trump or mike pence because it looks like all they are trained to do is make donald trump look

good and pretend nothing is happening. donald trump said, anybody who wants to can get tested. anthony fauci said, not true. you have to go to a doctor or hospital or something and then you can be seen by them and then you can get tested. donald trump says it's all a hoax. it's not a hoax. we have three good 75 cases now in the united states and 17 deaths in the united states. you go down the list. it's almost like -- he says he knows more than the generals do about war. it's like he now says he knows more about public health and the coronavirus than the leaders of the nih and the cdc. i don't understand why the administration -- mike pence would be, just shut up you would put the health professionals out there. yes, it's serious. it will take some time to get on top of, but we want to know the government recognizes the severity of the threat, is doing everything they can, and get the

politicians the hell out of the way. host: the markets down significantly -- guest: yeah, and donald trump link that on investors not liking what they saw in the last democratic debate. good lord. you don't play politics with people's lives, with public health. host: how big an issue potentially could this be moving forward for the republicans and the president? guest: well, as an american, i uld hope this is not an issue. but the longer it takes them to get on top of this and tell the truth and the longer this drags on, i think it could become, again, because of mismanagement and incompetence, it could be like donald's katrina, if you will. something that hot him because it's a time when we are looking for leadership and all we saw

was petty, partisan politics. one case confirmed at the cpac conference. guest: the white house immediately said donald trump never saw him, mike pence never saw him. i just read before i came in here that this person who was mesh lap,id meet with who is the head of cpac, shook schlapp internatt should donald trump' us and on stage. n should donald trump' us hand on stage. disease,now about this that could be enough. they are giving corona bumps around washington rather than handshakes. host: you are on the phone with bill press. caller: hey, mr. press.

i have been listening to you for years. i have something to say. bernie is just ahead of his time. anyre not going to get universal health care in eight months and that's what people are backing off and going to biden. there are people on the who may not have nice, great civics, but now they are trying to say, ok, he is good to have free college and all of that? we can't even get to the point where the aca was 56, 60 times they try to snap at an trump is trying to snuff it. the whole point is, he is just ahead of his time. i'm sorry. it's not how old you are. it's how you are when you are old. he is just ahead of his time. thank you for the call. guest: thank you.

am a single-payer person. i totally think that's the way to go. and i think we will eventually get there. i think it starts with the public option and then more states allow that public option, the more people sign into it and produce and we will be there at medicare for all, but i don't think it's going to happen overnight. but when you get down to it, that is the fundamental difference and the only difference between where joe biden and bernie sanders are on this issue is how fast you go and how far you go to achieve that goal. to that extent, maybe willie is right. i come back to revolution versus evolution. we get the pool reports. the president is golfing in mar-a-lago at his golf course or he did tweet the following "we have a perfectly coordinated and find him play a of the white

house. we moved very early and closed borders to certain areas, which was a guide -- a godsend. the vice president is doing a great job. the fake news media is doing everything possible to make us look bad. sad!" guest: donald trump has two fallbacks when things are not going well. number one, blame obama among which he has done. the democrats, obama. and number two, blame the media, which he cannot help himself from doing. the media is not overplaying this at all. when you look at 375 cases. including the district of -- 70ia, washington, d.c. people have died in this country -- 17 people have died in this country. host: actually it's up to 19 now.

guest: that's real. it's not a hoax. there's a story in "the washington times." the problem gig on top of this is at the white house. there is no one willing to give donald trump the bad news. saidwoman who came out and it's going to get worse for it gets better -- they said, look, they silenced her. think about this in terms of health professionals today. there is a gag order. they can't put out, tell the american people what is happening unless they get it approved by mike hentz's office -- mike pence austria's office. that's not inspiring confidence by the american people. the president, he wants to downplay it. he wants to say this is nothing to worry about. it is something to worry about, and again, put the health officials upfront and level with the american people.

that's the only way forward. host: this is the front page of "thing your times," in which this director said that we need to prepare for significant disruption to our lives. guest: right. you have colleges today saying no more classes. right? when you have these sxsw conference canceled. when you have airlines -- i just got a note from united airlines saying we are cutting back on -- i forget whatever percentage of flights. you can change whatever flight you want from now until the end of the year. when people are canceling conferences. this is real. people are responding. trump totally trying to downplay it because again, for him, it's all about him, and he sees any bad news as an attack on him and his chances

for 2020. it ain't about you, donald. host: our guest is charlie -- [laughter] host: our guest is bill press. charlie is our next caller. [laughter] charlie, i apologize. good morning. bill press is in the studio. caller: yes, i want to ask mr. press. he was talking about what an honor it is to get the presidential medal of freedom like to ask him, it is it an biden to joe plagiarize 1987 that british politician and joe biden -- i would like his response on that. host: thank you. ,uest: that's a long time ago and joe biden apologized at the time, and guess what? he got out of the race of the time.

i wish donald trump had apologized for the access hollywood, you know what he said about grabbing women from their private parts? i wish donald trump has showed the courage joe biden did, the humility joe biden did at the time to drop out of the race. he didn't. i would also point out since that time, joe biden has served us very, very well in the united states senate and eight years is probably the most successful and effective vice president in the history of the united states. i want to read a tweet. with the front runners on the democratic side, there's another debate coming up. two old white guys and no tulsi gabbard in the debate. the dnc cannot let this happen.

the people need a contrast. elsie gabbard only has two delegates. does she deserve to be on the debate stage? -- tulsi gabbard. guest: no. i regret very, very much, as a democrat, young at heart democrat, that we have two old ending thisasically political primary, which started , the largestmost and the most diverse field of candidates we have ever seen in the history of this country and i was really proud of as a democrat. andwhen you have young older and gay and straight and made an and women and african-american and caucasian -- i mean, it was like the face of america. and i thought we would end up final and we end

up with two old white guys. congresswoman and barbara lee said she was disgusted. i would not go that far. but there's a certain criteria for being on the stage and i honestly do not believe tulsi gabbard is a serious candidate. she hasn't met the fundraising -- if i understand, correct me if i'm wrong. she has not met the fundraising threshold. she has not met the polling threshold. and if she doesn't qualify, i don't think you put her on stage to have aow, just woman on stage. if you are going to do that, but elizabeth warren back on stage, put humala harris back on stage, put cory booker back on stage. the andrew yang back. put someone serious back on stage. i'm sorry. tulsi gabbard is not, in my opinion.

good morning. you are on with all press. myler: thank you for taking call. i remember remember watching with patcrossfire" buchanan. i am a republican. though i disagree with you respectfully on the current issues, here is how i disagree. a lot of my friends who are republicans will this way. there seems to be an establishment issue. there's the biden and son connections to ukraine, kerry and his stepson, and you look at china, 95% of the u.s. antibiotics coming out of china but our country at risk. what i'm saying, bill, is the establishment is kind of old school and people on the left are saying they want something

different. that is why we, as republicans, joe's trump. to joedemocrats go back biden, you guys are great to lose. it's not about trump doing something wrong with corona. you are a member of the media. i respect your opinion. it started in china. why aren't we covered them -- covering them critically? why are we blaming the united states for what they have done for 40, 50 years. those are my thoughts. i respect what you are saying. i think it will be an interesting election. trump versus an establishment democrat and i think you guys are going to lose. thank you. we have this also saying i have fond memories of "crossfire," the old days on cnn book dust before they became the fake news media. guest: thank you for your words

"crossfire." i believe it was the first and best show on that media, having come to the show left. i came along as the johnny-come-lately, and i was proud to be there for the last six years of the show with rob novak and pat buchanan. what a lot of people remember about the show, there was a spirited debate, goodipted, with two really guys who knew about the topic for half an hour. just a laser focus on one issue. .nd it was a great show they were great years. just to john' is point quickly, again the ukraine thing, i hate i respectint you and

the fact we disagree, the ukraine thing has been look that over and over and over again. it was not illegal. it was bad judgment. but i don't think you can hold joe biden responsible for the sins of the sun, put it that way. -- sins of the son. put it that way. host: sue in fort myers, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. you have been around for quite some time. didn't american corporations voluntarily go to china to get their products made for less money? so that their profit margin is bigger in our country? guest: amen. absolutely. not just china. american corporations exported

jobs and close down factories plants, opened new basically using slave labor to make products and sell them back here for a big buck. yeah, they were not forced to do that. they hurt american workers and the american economy and do -- in doing so. everybody has said something, the media is not paying attention to what is happening in china with the coronavirus -- look, i totally disagree. that is where it started. talk about mismanagement. they totally mishandled that, and again -- i think we have heard a lot about where the problem is. china. i don't think the media has endorsed that at all. two major endorsements today, jesse jackson, senator,

i'll harris. is she -- kamala harris. is she -- kamala harris. issue on the shortlist to be a running mate? guest: absolutely. i would say kamal harris is in so is amy klobuchar. and the chances that woman will be going a ticket are what percent? guest: it may be wishful thinking for my part but i would say 85%. hold me to it.- rerun the tape and embarrass me if you will. there will not be two white males on the democratic ticket. host: what about senator elizabeth war and? when do you think we will see the endorsement? think elizabeth moran recognizes -- and i have not been in touch at all with the campaign, so i'm speaking right head here --f the i think she recognizes her maximum leverage is now. her moment is now. i would be surprised if she does

, andndorse for tuesday this is sunday morning. bill press, author, columnist, talk show host -- guest: are we done question mark -- are we done yet go host: yes. guest: that was so fast. good to see all of you, too well. host: when we come back, more of your phone calls on campaign 2020. democrats, republicans, independents, here are the phone numbers. you are watching and listening to c-span's washington journal. it is the eighth day of march. we are back in a moment. ♪

>> tonight, peggy wallace kennedy, daughter of george father'salks about her controversial career and what inspired her to write her book "the broken road." >> we took our young son to the martin luther king museum historical and we went to his church and to his grave and over to the museum. it was being constructed at that time. and we were going through the exhibits and we came to the alabama exhibit. and it showed the edmund pettus bridge, the bombed out baptist , the fire hoses, and george wallace standing in the

schoolhouse door. and he looked up at me and he said -- it was so sad. paw do those things to other people?" and it broke my heart. -paw never toldw me what he did those things to other people, but i know it was wrong. so maybe it will be up to you and me to make things right." "q&a."h on c-span's monday night, on "the communicators," susan ness on reducing extremism online. content and find there's now much greater cooperation than we had even two

years ago. >> watch "the communicators" monday at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span2. journal" continues. host: the largest delegate count is in michigan. about half of the delegates are allocated through super tuesday. of course, there's a key primary in ohio. recent a couple headlines. this is from politico. "biden can finish money off in statean." the next big is looking dicey for standards. but this from "the detroit free press," supporters believe that sanders can pull off a michigan

surprised. with their candidate barnstorming the state, bernie sanders supporters are guardedly optimistic that the primary would again give his campaign and needed boost of momentum. that them5, poll said credit front runner hillary clinton was up 20 points by more on senator sanders. the weekend before that state of austria's primary in 2016. instead the vermont independent eking out a narrow victory, a signature win for the sanders campaign. this time, the senator comes in as a much more formidable candidate with higher name recognition and more widespread, visible support. weeks, bidenst two has surged with his series of vital wins in super tuesday states that have allowed him to grab the lead in the delegate count. we will get to your calls in a moment. joining us on the phone, carol kane with "the detroit free

"michigan the host of matters." joining us from detroit, thank you for being with us. guest: good morning, steve. host: what can you tell us 44 -- 48 hours before voting in michigan. michigan has always been important to this electoral college map for the candidates, and certainly with no major candidates left, we have bernie and joe biden facing off, and both candidates have much at stake. bernie sanders canceled his mississippi campaign stops and is focusing it all on michigan, ann arbor, detroit, grand rapids. , it obviouslyes does not bode well for him. if he wins, obviously this will be a horse race through the convention. establish a to firewall here in michigan like

the one in south carolina that led to biden's historic and stunning rebound. has focused his limited resources in south carolina, so he does not have -- he had up and to the last couple weeks a ground game in michigan, but the incredible tsunami wave biden has been riding since jim clyburn's endorsement has exceeded his team up us this wildest dreams as they lead in delegates and that is what caused many of the other candidates to drop out and throw their support to him in rather stunning fashion. but one of the things i am hearing that is really interesting is the sanders people -- and my judgment is he is barking up the wrong tree, in my opinion -- calling this an establishment move, try to take him out. biden' as victories were fueled by the massive turnout of african-americans and suburban white women.

i do not know that many people think women are part of the major power establishment. you mentioned a big delegate haul, 125 delegates at stake. the largest of the six states having primaries on tuesday. .et's look at the results there is a close race between senator sanders and hillary clinton. as we pointed out, clinton had the lead going into the michigan primary, narrowly losing. you can see the vote totals. 599,000 votes for senator sanders. 580 1004 hillary clinton. based on those numbers, what do you expect in the final tally? here is what i know. there has been such a coalescing of democrats in the state from governor witmer, governor

granholm, governor blanchard, throwing their support to him as well as candidates doing that -- mayor pete, amy, mike bloomberg, and the reason why is there is a lot of concern about bernie sanders -- he is a self-described democrat socialist, appearing to embrace certain elm is a fidel castro. there is concern about who can win and beat donald trump in november, but also further down the ballot. there are other elections going on here. who can resonate. you can be the difference maker. one thing you can say. absentee ballots, there were 70% more given out in michigan from 2016, versus so much interest in here. but the situation for bernie sanders, he came in here as an -- fourfor years ago years ago. he is very well-known. recent polls of had joe biden ahead, but bernie sanders is putting up a huge battle and obviously, as it relates to our there is more to play out

here and it will be an interesting couple hours before tuesday' is primary results. -- tuesday's primary results. host: humans mentioned governor gretchen witmer has endorsed joe biden. how much political capital does she have? endorsed, and the other governors as well. when you put them all together it makes significant dent in the whole process. help. -- endorsements those who get the endorsement say, hey, it's great. obviously, i think people will be voting with their pocketbooks, and ultimately who they think can win in november. it's not just this person, but who has the ability to win. we have, the first time on tuesday, people with absentee ballots, notes qs -- no excuse. it makes you wonder who they

will be voting for. obviously joe biden. this is a totally different set of circumstances from four years ago when hillary clinton was mostly mia. she was not hear much in the primary. she was not here in the general election. joe biden is here. he's coming to detroit tomorrow. he has the support of many people. so he has the momentum. but bernie -- junot take money for granted. -- do not take bernie for granted. host: and that rally is scheduled for prime time with kamala harris. we're talking with carol cain. be significant will michigan question mark when it was a key battleground state or democrats and republicans. important.emely

michigan, one way or another, will set the stone. if bernie loses it will be interesting because he will have an uphill fight and if joe him,nues to the government keep in mind, michigan was here in 2008, 2009 when the economic meltdown impacted the world. motor city brought to its knees. the trick went through bankruptcy. joe biden was a regular fixture in detroit. he was the point person or the obama administration. he has a lot of friends here. people pay attention to that. i think that resonates as well. cain,we turn to carol joining us on the phone, when it comes to detroit politics. thank you for being with us. guest: have a great one. host: republican line. good morning. i'm 18.hi, this is my first time voting.

i plan on voting for donald trump and 2020. i think has done a very good job for this country. a very happy about his foreign policy decisions. i'm very happy about the tax cuts. i think trump is my pick for 2020. i was not sure if i was going to support mike bloomberg, but he dropped out, so now i plan for voting for trump and 2020. -- i in 2020. host: thanks for the call. good morning. caller: good morning. host: you are on the air. caller: mi on the air? host: you sure are. caller: trump said entitlements would be cut. that includes social security and medicare. can you show this clip, and why is trump -- no one questioning trump about this? host: thank you. we don't have that clip handed to her and we asked him that question july of last year and

he did say everything, including medicare, medicaid, social security, beyond the table. you can check that out from july 30, the interview that we conducted from the white house. you are talking about the fact -- fox news town hall meeting in scranton, pennsylvania and that is available on the fox news website. that's a good point that we can use in a future program, so thank for that. biden out with a new campaign ad. let's watch. [video clip] biden: the american people have seen the alternative -- a president who not only has horrible policies, but the way he works -- makes fun of people. -- winning means uniting america, not sewing more division and anger. fighting, butnly healing the country.

the way that we do this is we bring together americans, democrats, publicans, independents, people of every stripe. the days of donald trump's divisiveness will soon be over. so here's the deal. let's get back up. we are resilient people. this is the united states of america. if we do it together. that is from the biden campaign. keep in mind we are like this afternoon with senator bernie taking' campaign rally place in michigan. campaignart of our 2020 coverage. again, live today with senator bernie sanders. twain is joining us from mississippi. duane? are you doing, sir.

i have been watching -- i love watching c-span. i can get enough. see what would like to people say about different things and whatnot. i have a question, i have a couple questions and comments. chuck you would show schumer threaten the supreme court, to get individuals, two conservative individuals on the supreme court writ also, it if joe biden is the presumptive nominee -- they are saying he is going to be the man, he is going to knock figures in the head, get them out of the way, i just want to find out -- if you take ,rump on everything he has done why can't we investigate joe for his kids? i wanted to know -- i called in a couple months ago whatever. -- if we ared out going to be fair, just be fair.

put out all the information and let us look at it. with questions with joe biden. host: thanks for the question. we have not only shown the marks by the senate democratic leader but the response from the senate floor, senator mcconnell and senator schumer, who apologize. think you for watching c-span and think you are putting that out. let's go to grand rapids, michigan. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you for taking my call. host: senator sanders will be an grand rapids today. caller: yes, i know. but senator sanders is not my guy. i am voting for joe biden because i think that he can solidify the votes for the country as a whole. i am not going to waste my vote shore upne who well trump for the next four years. can't have trump for the next four years. host: that's the number one

factor in terms of how your voting? caller: that is my number one factor. i cannot take trump for another four years. host: we thank you for the call. from the sanders campaign, this endorsement from alexandria ocasio-cortez, who is back on the campaign trail with senator sanders. let's watch. [video clip] ocasio-cortez: the first time i heard about senator bernie sanders was when i was a waitress. i did not have a minimum wage. sanders verynator -- is hisincidents aspiration is our aspiration. that is the kind of leadership we need right now. your phonee back to calls from atlanta, georgia. susie, good morning. thank you for waiting. caller: good morning. i heard several trump supporters

i'm sorry,rump's -- --ut biden' us children biden' us children and that is why they are not supporting biden. but if you look at trump' -- jared kushner falsified his security clearance document and had to amend them -- documents and had to amend them several times. a ivanka trump was awarded trademarks to china while trump was in office. and also the suns are conducting business, violating the emoluments clause. no one is saying anything about thatand i wanted to -- needs to be emphasized because these are violations of the law and nobody is bringing that up about trump's children. host: susan, thank you for the

call. on the republican line, bill, you are, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. sending love from pennsylvania to you. host: thank you. i don't believe anybody, biden or sanders, is going to be trump. .- beat trump my question is -- i can has been in some type of office for 40 years now. things are so screwed up in this country. responsible --y isn't he directly responsible? anyone who thinks that the country is ready for bernie a positive socialism, it's never going to happen. so it will be trump. beatof them is going to it. it does not matter who gets the delegates. it will be trump for four more years and he has earned it. he has done a great job. so that's my view on it, steve.

you have a great day. host: bill in pennsylvania -- cities to keep an eye on will determine who wins the 2020 election. i mentioned that because we sat down with him for our podcast "the weekly." wheresessment of not only you shop often determines where you vote, but also keeping an eye on key communities that will determine the election. things for calling. mark from inglewood, florida. mark? good morning, steve. i just got couple things. atst of all, i'm just amazed msnbc and cnn, how they have taken biden and pushed him and his campaign into the front runner because if you remember, he was way behind everybody and the media jumped in and now he's way ahead.

florida is not going to let me vote for anyone republican or democrat -- is going toink that take a lot of votes away from bernie. it's just too bad because bernie -- he is in anybody's pocket, you know. biden is. we had an earlier caller that went to make reference to president trump, who traveled to scranton, pennsylvania on wednesday. one of the comments came up, the fact that the debt has grown nearly 20% in the first three

years of the trump administration. so our producer was able to find that. let's watch. [video clip] president trump: when these trade deals kick -- and the economy is the best we have ever had. it's nothing compared to what it's going to be. growth like we have never had before. there you have the president referring to medicare, medicaid programs. we have joey. caller: i would like to ask two questions real quick. itst, i would like to say seems like the united states lost our common sense when they

elected george h w bush and follow that up with bill clinton who changed our health care system. our health care system was doing just fine before clinton got in office with her husband in the early 1990's. world war ii was the greatest generation. rating go to vietnam and stay 15 years. world war two, they pulled all of our troops out. that is what they ought to do here. secondly, if we got rid of all of the people who were voting for democratic president, they were useful. they wanted healthy people. they wanted young, vibrant people and they ended up, all of them stepping down and endorsing the guys, the two oldest guys -- one has mental issues and a corrupt background, the other has heart issues and socialist

we are not going to elect a communist for president of the united states. that don't make no sense. are they going to demand that joe biden,ers and -- we want to know what their health conditions are because i want my vote to count. she can pick her vice president. host: this is from "the new york times." this is the front page story. erik prince has helped to infiltrating

campaigns and labor groups. this is the front page of "the new york times." mark in norfolk, virginia, you get the last word. good morning. good morning, steve. i think if these campaigns were to listen to c-span, that is why i love it in the morning, because it gets an unfiltered sense of what the people are saying. from was a gentleman california who talked about some of the concerns that many of us have, the news media using this -- just repeating the talking can't that bernie sanders do this and bernie sanders can't do that. but here is what i promise you. there is a division in the democratic party that swings mainly between age and these

people coming on board endorsing biden -- biden cannot -- will not be the candidate who can beat president trump. thank you. we want to leave you with one other note from "saturday night live," and now former candidate making appearance. now, after having murdered michael bloomberg on live television, please welcome senator elizabeth warren. [cheers and applause] warren: thanks for having me. been since you dropping out of the race? my friends and family have been so supportive. they have been calling nonstop

asking, do you have what you need? are you ok? are you electable? >> here is footage of you debating mike bloomberg. [indiscernible] clear, wereto be you the dog or the burrito? sen. warren: i was the dog. and so you are not endorsing anyone yet? sen. warren: it's tough. --be i will just >> do you have any regrets? sen. warren: none at all. i am so out of our campaign. --built a white coalition preschool teachers, teachers, middle school teachers, and teachers past -- a wide coalition. accept only did i not

money from billionaires, i got to get one a swirly on live tv. but now i've got time to do a self-care. prank calling and say one last thing. >> how are you? [applause] >> sorry. i wanted to put on my favorite outfit to thank you for all that you have done in your lifetime. >> i am not dead. i am just in the senate. night, courtesy of saturday night live. campaignrage today, 2020 with bernie sanders and speeches on tuesday evening. also available on a website at

c-span.org. thank you for joining us on this sunday. newsmakers is next. ♪ >> today, vermont senator bernie sanders holds a rally in grand rapids, michigan ahead of the presidential primary. c-span.org, or listen live on the free c-span radio app. ♪ campaign in which we have working-class the and the middle class, we are

going to win that election. >> for those who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign. >> the presidential primaries and caucuses continue in idaho, michigan, mississippi, missouri, north cota and washington, candidate speeches and results tuesday evening, live on c-span or season.org. wherever you are on the free c-span radio app. john: on newsmakers this week, our guest is the ranking member of the house st