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this morning on washington journal we take a look at the michael flynn perjury case that was reheard yesterday i the d.c. circuit judge court of police -- judge court of appeals. ♪ good morning, it's wednesday, august 12, 2020. yesterday afternoon joe biden named kamala harris as his running mate in the 2020 election. the 55-year-old daughter of jamaican and indian immigrants becomes the first lap woman in first asian-american to run for vice president on a major party ticket. this morning we are getting your reaction. phone lines are open to let us know your thoughts. republicans can call in this ,orning at (202) 748-8001

democrats (202) 748-8000, (202) 748-8002. you can send us a tax that (202) 748-8002 -- a text at (202) 748-8002. good wednesday morning to you. you can go ahead and talk calling him right now as we show you how the joe biden for kamala harris played out on the front pages of several major national papers. this is the front page of "the washington post." "a historic move." ine first woman of color number two slot for a major party." front pages of new york tabloids, from "the new york daily news," "yes we kam."

"kamrades," is what they went with. frome political headlines, huffington -- poo huffington post, making history. we want to hear from you this morning about your thoughts on that pick and as you are calling in, we want to remind you where kamala harris came from before this pic was announced yesterday . here's some of her background, ,orn in oakland, california 1964, as we said, the daughter of jamaican and indian , she was the san francisco district attorney from

2004 to 2000 11, leaving to become the california attorney 2017, thenm 2011 to leaving to become the u.s. senator from california elected steen and she announced her presidential run in january of 2019 in oakland, california, ending her pain in early december of 2019 -- campaign in early december of 2019. getting your thoughts this morning, gil is up first out of jamestown, north carolina. democrat. good morning. i wholeheartedly support the election of kamala harris for vice president. but just doesn't urgent, i would like to give my opinion and prediction on the cabinet on the veryd qualified people that ran in the primaries. going down the line quickly -- host: we don't have to do an

entire cabinet, but give us a few. caller: michael bloomberg, secretary of defense, kristin care -- kristen gillibrand, director of the v.a. andrew yang, secretary of commerce. theklobuchar, director of guy. cory booker, chief economic advisor. joe stiglitz, secretary of health and human services. dr. fauci, secretary of housing. mitch landrieu, secretary of education. michelle obama, she would be fantastic in that director chief of staff. so at the powers, with secretary of energy, i would like to see someone of the caliber of dr. muniz.chu or ernest someone, a physicist or engineer. host: one question, susan rice was one of the people haps in the running for vice president.

why her at labor? caller: no, secretary of state. host: ok. caller: sec. of labor would be andrew yang. all of these individuals that were so qualified in the eye mary's would form an excellent cabinet. thank you for the call, gil. although there is an election. kristen is next, arizona. republican, good morning. for taking myyou call. i just wanted to say that kamala harris has one of the most treacherous records in the criminal justice system. this woman's staff, while she was attorney general of california, stood in front of multiple panels of judges with exculpatory evidence in their

hands and they refused to admit that they did wrong. they refused to admit -- they refused to even turn over the evidence favorable to the defendant. these were classic brady violations that her staff defended and even when the judge said -- no, your job is not to simply obtain convictions, your job is to administer justice -- you are ministers of justice. and why, why is kemal and her staff ministers of justice? in their oath it says that they must faithfully exit the duties of the office. that word, faith, is trust. belief, assurance. full credit. moral conviction. understanding the difference between right and wrong. breathable, equitable, open-minded.

it has all the things of being fair in the criminal justice system. this is one of the reasons why people fall for whatever the media says about her record, because they don't have wisdom. that is why, pun intended, the faith is grounded in the word in the word and the word says wisdom is the principal. host: got your point there. carl is next, virginia. good morning, how are you? caller: -- host: doing well. caller: i think that joe biden did a good thing by picking her this is running mate. a lot of the black community orld not have voted for him nominated him for president if herid not, you know, choose

. or susan rice. you know, so he did the right thing by choosing her. as far as the other stuff these other people are speaking of, it's amazing how they love to put the bible into the political realm when it fits their purpose , but then if they look at the whole thing, anybody that goes abortion, you know, they are going against god's word, right? the lease you done to my little ones you done to me. host: gene, louisville, kentucky, what did you think of the pick? caller: i think she's a good pick, but i digress. like mitch mcconnell, you know what i'm saying? he will legalize heroin before he legalizes, legalizing hemp,

before he legalizing weed. host: let's stick to the vice president pic. did you think it fundamentally check -- change to the race? yeah, well, fundamentally, she got her own tax plan and biden is going to go off of her tax plan. you know? the tax plan that he got, he's taxing too much, you know? she got a good tax plan where you know, you can donate the right off to charity and stuff like that and have a tax break, you know what i'm saying? her plan is better than his. that's why he picked her. you know? she was one of the few that had their own tax plan and everything like that. she got everything in a row, all her ducks in a row, stuff like that. that's why he picked her.

he wasn't going to pick what's .er name, the white woman senator, i forgot her name, you know, he wasn't gonna pick her because she's talking about taxing the rich and taxing everybody to sense on the dollar and everything like that, you know? is puttingthe 1% back into the economy. they buying food, they buying agriculture, buying food for black communities and stuff like that. the 1% is doing good, better than the old 1%. this morning, talking about kamala harris in her policies. deep dive on that today in "the themork times," comparing on a variety of policy issues, left of center is what they say in the paper version headline. among the policy issues they

look into is racial justice and leasing. obviously a major issue this election cycle. they write that is harris planned out her vision for criminal justice reform, standing up for black america, as part of the plan she call for ending mass incarceration, cash bail, death penalty, and a review board, making attending historically black colleges and universities debt-free for students, and every -- and many other measures on capital punishment. she chose not to seek the death penalty in major cases on moral grounds. as the attorney general she appealed the decision declaring the death penalty law unconstitutional. they wrote that perhaps the most memorable moment of her presidential campaign came in the first round of the debates when she confronted mr. biden about his fond recollections of working with segregationists in the senate and opened up about her personal history with school

busing. here is that moment from that democratic presidential debate. [video clip] >> it's personal. actually, it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two united states senators who tilt their reputation and career on the segregation of race in this country. it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. you know, there was a little girl in california who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools. she was bussed to school every day. that little girl was me. on thisll tell you that subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among democrats. we have to take it seriously and act swiftly. as the attorney general of california i was proud to put in place the firemen that all my

special agents wore body cameras and kept them on. host: kamala harris there, from that democratic presidential debate key moment. by the way, want to go back and watch the moments throughout her rear and public service, she has 195 appearances on the c-span video library. we put together a playlist of clips highlighting some of those appearances, including her presidential campaign announcement, or swearing in as , and some of her key moments in senate hearings. all of it available to you for free on our website, c-span.org. , republicancollege mine, what did you think of the pick? i'm actually pretty confused about the choice. i imagine that his main goal is to appeal to the radical left. take a look at this, during the

primary debates she insulted him, more or less called him a racist on national television, therefore as the democratic party slides further to the left , vice president biden has made a poor choice. those that he's trying to appease, they are overwhelmingly anti-police. why would he pick someone with somewhat of a sketchy record as the district attorney and attorney general of california, the second-largest justice department in the united states, only second to the federal doj, why would he pick her to appeal to the bases trying to get to. you understand? you know what i mean? host: that was ben, pennsylvania. richard, independent mine. good morning, you are next. thatr: i wanted to say c-span ran her presidency nomination speech and i thought

it was a terrific speech read i'm thrilled that she's running and i think she is tough enough to handle the presidency read i just wanted to sound off on that. host: democratic line, good morning. jeffrey. caller: i get tired of these republicans talking about leftal left, -- calling bad. this president been doing bad since he's been in office. i think it was a good choice. to me, just because what she said about buses back then, at that time the laws was kind of difference. you had to do the busing thing. but then you realize, there was a lot of crimes in the black community and places. why they want to hold that against her? i believe she going to do a helluva job. when trump gave $6,000 to her campaign and his daughter gave $4000. now he want to call her nasty because she went after cavanaugh.

why she go after cavanaugh? democrats took back the house. people didn't judge her for all of that. if anything it gave democrats more power. i don't think trump will come after her too much. i thought it would be rice, but i'm glad he made that choice and i'm happy with it and i hope the beingicans stop hypocrites. thank you, sir. host: jeffrey and marilyn. president trump, reacting to the kamala harris announcement today -- yesterday, including a campaign and that he tweeted out, a 32nd campaign at that phony,. her as that's phony kamala. kamala. we will show you that added just a second. cary, new jersey, independent

mine, good morning. caller: i don't think the nomination will mean anything different as far as getting black people on board. she tanked in her primary, you know? once everybody started looking at her record, once tulsa gabbard expose her for what she was, she started -- tulsa gabbard exposei her for what she was. she started sliding off. joe biden has a terrible record towards the black community. you have amy klobuchar, all these democratic primary people, when you look at their records, it's bad records in the black community. we are supposed to just take that?

i'm black independent. i'm a baby boomer lack independent. i'm the guy that should be voting for them. the democrats do nothing but insult black people's intelligence, especially biden. every time they let him out the basement, he make sure to say something insulting to black people. they will get my vote. none of them well. thank you. and here is that at the president put on his twitter page. [video clip] >> the radical left, embracing the bernie plan, calling for trillions in new taxes, attacking joe biden. .oters smartly spotted a phony not joe biden. he's not that smart. biden calls himself a transition candidate. he's handing over the reins to kamala harris. ,low joe and phony kamala

perfect together, wrong for america. president trump tweeting that advertisement have yesterday. back to your phone calls. caller: good morning, i'm a democrat from maryland and on and can god that biden made the right choice as far as, you know, who he wants for vice president. it's not even an issue of color. it's about respect. he forgave her on the comment that she made back then and it's ok. caller: why was it the right -- host: why was it the right choice, marshall? caller: it's time for america to get back on track. right now this country is in turmoil and disarray. we've already got a situation with the coronavirus where it seems like trump is paying attention to it, he don't really care about it. we just need to get back to basics. get back to running this country the right way. i voted for biden and i voted work kamala harris and i feel

that god has answered my prayers. thank you so much. host: this from "the washington ," taking a look at the pic, veteran opinion columnist -- flushing, new york, mine, good morning. caller: good morning to you.

she might be the favorite person , but what is she going to help? we will see if she could move the black young vote. biden knocks himself out by saying garbage things. she was not going to say that. the only place she might help him is on the woman vote. the so-called republican woman vote. well, in that case, biden himself, he said he's going to choose only black woman, so i don't know how the white suburban woman feel about this. the game is on the woman, the suburban woman that doesn't like trump. for her, he might win. other than that, the race card is not going to help.

trump is a racist president. told him you are also a racist. racist president? also a racist. not move theould white suburban so-called mom. a battle between biden and -- loseiden might use this election because of what he has been saying and he's in trouble. he tells us he's in trouble. i don't believe that one. host: got your point. mike, silver spring, maryland, good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? host: doing well. caller: do you hear the

confusion on the republican lines? it means it was the perfect deck, ok? kamala is from you could say the conservative wing. kamala and biden are from the conservative wing of the that'stic already, ok the middle. he pulled into the middle. he pulled from being labeled a socialist or that radical left leaning over that way, he pulled them back. he pulled back with kamala and him, further away from the socialist label. biden didn't hold no grudges when she attacked him about bussing. he said he holds no grudges. so, it's just like reagan and daddy bush. where daddy bush labeled ronald

reagan his economics voodoo economics and all of a sudden what did reagan do? he picked daddy bush for vice president. the dude that had all of those senators, serving senators in the cabinet, that was the most insane thing i ever heard in my life. because no currently serving senator, biden is not going to put them in the cabinet. of thes to have control senate. he doesn't want to lose in the senate. he picks kamala because she is from california and the governor from california is done attic, so he's going to replace her with a democratic senator, so there won't be no loss there. ways tolittle bit of a go before they take over the senate.

do you think that will happen in what do? caller: well, they need, 51-47? host: if joe biden is elected, they would only need 50 seats because then kamala harris would be the tiebreaker. caller:6 exactly -- caller: exactly. it's 47, there's 47 democratic senators now. we probably going to pick up the senate. but like i said, it's not a loss becauseking kamala, governor newsom is going to replace her with another democrat to finish out her term. host: we don't have to go through the cabinet, one more question before you go, but since you talked about the other caller who named his potential biden presidency cabinet picks, who would you have as ag and oh,retary of state? caller:

ag? you were kind of looking at kamala being ag. i don't know about that, but secretary of state, i would say susan rice. she's a foreign policy expert. that would be good for susan rice. i don't know, i don't know about ag. you know, you know it's not going to be any senators. in anyt afford to have of those states those senators would come from, can't afford to lose any of those 47. host: got your point. think about it, give us a call down the road and we will talk about it down the road. this is the conservative editorial board of "the wall street journal," this is how they described the pic this morning in their lead editorial.

ine's a ferocious partisan, the senate she was one of the nastiest westerners of brett kavanaugh, a high bar. biden is figurehead more than a leader, and by adding harris to the ticket he has underscored that it is not just a vote to oust trump, it is a vote for the coastal progressives who ."minate the democratic party they mentioned her questioning of brett kavanaugh, now justice kavanaugh. here's one moment from the confirmations between senator harris and the nominee. [video clip] >> have you ever discussed special counsel mueller or his investigation with anyone? >> well, it's in the news every day. >> have you discussed it with anyone?

know.h other judges, i >> have you discussed mother or his investigation at -- with anyone at the law form founded by mark caso it's, trump's personal lawyer? be sure about your answer, sir. , well, i'm not remembering, but if you have something -- are you certain you have not had anyone -- a conversation with anyone at that law firm? caso it's, benson, and torres. founded by president trump's personal lawyer. are you, have you had any conversations about robert mueller or his investigation with anyone at that firm? yes or no. directing you a very russian. yes or no. caller: i'm not sure that -- >>

are not sure i know everyone who works at that law firm. quick i don't think you need to. who did you talk to? >> i'm not remembering, but i'm happy to be refreshed. >> are you saying that with all that you remember, you have an impeccable memory. you have been speaking almost eight hours, more to this committee about all sorts of things that you remember. how can you not remember whether or not you had a conversation about robert mueller or his investigation with anyone at that law firm? the investigation has only been going on for so long, sir. >> and just trying to think of i know anyone who works at that firm. >> that's not my question. my question is if you have had a conversation with anyone there about the investigation. it's a specific west and. i think you're thinking of someone and you don't want to tell us.

host: it's all available for you at c-span.org. someone hundred 95 different appearances in the archive featuring kamala harris in some sort of speaking role. you are welcome to browse through them anytime you want. north carolina, democratic line, next. i'm glad to join this show, it's going to be a show of shows when you have a prosecutor that still asks embarrassing questions and the person on the delay,e end will stumble, and fumble through the answer. no, yes or no, they don't answer that, they have to drag it out. they will be abused and confused by a prosecutor that knows what she's doing. she has a scholarly education to back it up.

is very accomplished. she won elections by narrow votes, yes, but it was a popular vote. the vice presidential debate is set for october. how do you think that will go? caller: i can't wait for that. hence -- mike fence will be tied up for the first time in his life. he has been very sharp on doing better than his boss. i like to see mike pence kind of she will ask numerous embarrassing questions. host: sherry, new york city, republican, go ahead. caller: good morning.

i just felt the need to let the world know how happy i am with this pick. i attended an hbc you myself. i happen to also be a lawyer myself. are you republican, i'm calling in on the republican line. caller: yes, i'm a registered republican and i did not vote for donald trump, in case my mother is listening. i have been registered as republican and democrat. i don't know how unusual that but nonetheless i am so pleased with joe biden's pick. lady is so accomplished. experience ande

i also believe she has the temperament. and she kind of looks like me and a whole bunch of people. women are -- we want to see ourselves in these positions. no more questions about qualifications. her qualifications are above reproach. it's really about the opportunity. i'm so pleased with joe biden. i am. i'm probably going to switch back to democrat. that's all i wanted to say. i just felt that i needed to let my comment be known. host: sherry, new york city. this is billy out of russell, tennessee, independent, good morning. caller: yes. i just think that joe biden picked the wrong one. i'm independent, but harris, she

talked about joe unprofessionally. there's no way i would pick a running weight -- running mate that talked about me when i was in my primary. so, what's going on is the presidential, his campaign group is the one that had him to have as his vice president. so, if joe gets sick or anything, you will have a lady president. don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a lady president. but i just don't see it. i don't see why she, having been talking the way she is, she's not very honest. so, to me, i will be voting donald trump all the way in this election. got to. thank you. billy, tennessee. a donald trump supporter. here is president trump from the thoughtsse giving his on kamala harris being picked.

[video clip] >> she's a big tax raiser. of funds forlasher the military. she's got a lot of difficult things she's going to have to explain. ,lus, she was very nasty probably nastier than pocahontas , to joe biden. she was very disrespectful to joe biden. it's hard to pick somebody that is that disrespectful. when she said things during the debates, during the democratic primary debates that were horrible about sleepy joe. i would think that he wouldn't have picked her. host: that from the president last night in the white house briefing room. here is mike pence from yesterday on kamala harris being picked as the vice presidential running mate. [video clip]

>> i don't know if y'all heard the news, on the way here i heard that joe biden named his running mate. california senator kamala harris will be the democratic president -- candidate for vice president. [chanting] let me take this opportunity to welcome her to the race. i mean, we all know, look, joe biden and the democratic party have been overtaken by the radical left, so given the promises of socialized medicine and abortion on demand, it's no surprise he chose senator harris to be his running mate. you might like to know that the vice presidential debate will be on october 7. in utah. [clapping]

my message to her, congratulations, i will see you in salt lake city. vice president mike pence, yesterday. here is some of your reaction to the pick from social media and from our text is edging service. this from kenley in richmond, virginia --

host: that's what jim out of buffalo, says. sherman, good morning. caller: good morning, america. ecstatic about kamala harris being the joe biden running mate. i was a supporter of her as president and i was very disappointed when she dropped out of the race for the sake of money. but god is good and he knows all things and it's going to work out. all of these haters, get ready.

the world is getting ready to be good again. that's my comment. thank you. paul, for layout -- fort lauderdale, good morning. caller: good morning, now we have two women and not just one to look after joe biden. he has his mommy wife and i on him to make sure he doesn't mess up and now he has got a woman who has called him a racist who is descended from jamaican slaveowners. what a great ticket they have got. is anow, kamala harris advocate for jussie smollett. foruld like anyone who is kamala harris to explain to me why she makes a good candidate when she is and apologize her and advocate for jussie

smollett. thank you very much. host: more from president trump, tweeted a few minutes ago -- host: the president, up and tweeting this morning. wisconsin, democratic line, good morning. caller: you know what? i love the pic. what, harris, you know she came up through the ranks and did the work. as far as i'm concerned, she has personality and, you know, like i said, she did the work. all of these people who are saying that she had nothing to do with anything, let me tell you what, what did penance to? nothing.

her inave you watched senate hearings? is there a moment or line of rushing that stands out for you? exactly. when she was questioning these people, she said yes or no answers and you know what, they couldn't answer. it was baffling to me that she -- she's a good, what you call and, you know, it just amazes me that people think she's a bad pick. she's a great pick. and thank you off the mic. another high-profile moment from a senate hearing, questioning over the mueller report. [video clip] >> had they ever suggested you open an investigation on anyone?

yes or no. >> could you repeat the question? >> i will repeat it. has the president or anyone at the white house ever asked suggested you open an investigation of anyone. yes or no, please, sir. >> the president or anybody else? >> seems you would remember something like that and be able to tell us. >> i'm trying to grapple with the word suggest. there have been discussions of matters out there that they have not asked me to open an investigation. >> perhaps they suggested? you don'tferred? know? ok. in your march 24 summer you wrote that after reviewing the special counsel final -- >> i will say -- x i'm asking a question. >> in your march 24 summer you said that after reviewing the final group work, rosenstein and

yourself concluded that the evidence is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offense. the special counsel investigation produced a great deal of evidence. i'm led to believe that it included witness knows and emails, congressional testimony, interviews that were summarized in the 30 two forms, former fbi director comey's memos and the president's public statements. my question, in reaching your conclusion, did you personally review all of the underlying evidence? >> no. we took -- >> did mr. rosenstein? >> no, we accepted statements in the report as factual record. we did not go underneath it to see if they were accurate. we accepted it as accurate. >> you accepted the report as the evidence? price yes. >> you did not question or look

at the underlying evidence that supported the conclusions of the report. >> no. the: if you want to watch full exchange, you can do so at our website, c-span.org. 15 minutes left in this segment, but if you don't get in, we will be talking about it a bit later on in the program, three hour show that ends at 10 a.m. eastern time in rochester, michigan. good morning. >> i watched the democratic debates and she was very active during those. when they took polls afterwards, she dropped out and only had 2% of the american population's endorsements. i'm trying to figure out what changed between the times of the debate to now. has she done something i'm not aware of that would put her front and center as a pick for the vice presidency?

youprocess itself was, ok, had to pick a democrat. that cuts out half the population of the country there, ok. so, then he had to pick a woman, ok? that cuts off another 25% of the population. now your choice comes from 25% of this population. then it has to be a woman of color, dropping it down to another 50%. so, he's picking from 10% of the population rather than trying to pick who is the best candidate to be a vice president to represent this country and run it on behalf of the american people. the process itself. he cuts off 85% to 90% of the population and from that 10% he has to choose the best of the 10% that's left and he picks a woman that debated on the television and got 2% of the

population in this country's endorsements. ok? but what has changed since those debates, then to now, that makes for such a fantastic person to be our vice president and to run this country? got your point, john. peter, good morning. caller: i was on the independent line. team independent for four years host: go ahead, peter. caller: i think it was a bad pick. with all of these tapes, you need to pull the tape in this segment of tulsi gabbard pointing at the record of her in california. she was as ruthless as a black parents thomas. she kept people in jail when she

was ordered to release them, to use them as prison labor to fight the fires. she kept innocent people in jail on murder charges. she let steven mnuchin go in his bank had 1000 cases of mortgage fraud. steven mnuchin actually gave her a campaign donation. she is the corporate democrat that will bring nothing and she loved prosecuting people for marijuana. the poorest black people, brown people, and white people, all had to do time because of her. please show the tulsa gabbard clip. it only was two minutes. host: that was peter in lakeland, florida. one of the columns from the opinion page of open quote usa today," from nicky's police, public defender for two decades, deputy public defender in san francisco. the headline, "i worked with

kamala harris, she was the most progressive district attorney in california." this coming from one of the public defenders out there. the deathed to seek penalty, even on cases where a respected police officer was killed. marijuana sale cases were routinely reduced to misdemeanors and possession cases were not even on the docket. they were simply not charged unless there was a large growth case or a unique circumstance. this was the reform minded approach want to read more of this public defender's thoughts on her record, you can go to "usa today."

adam, brooklyn, new york, good morning. caller: how are you guys? host: doing well. caller: congratulations to kamala harris, she's a great pick and a strong woman. we need that today. as a disclosure, i'm a white man and since trump became president, i'm actually ashamed to be a white man. that said, i have a warning for anybody who doesn't like what's going on in the white house. no one is going to do anything about him stealing the election again in november. and that's what i think is going to happen. got to vote, got to get out there, got to go to the polls. otherwise we will have another four years of this and this is not united states anymore. thank you. li, south carolina, good morning. your thoughts? caller: i agree with the pick

and i think she will do a good job. for the callers were calling in saying that she called joe biden a racist, that's not true. .vory the command joe biden in faith, you know to forgive people. president trump said he has never had to ask for forgiveness . for us to move on and bring the world back, we have to help each other. i think she's a very good pick. thank you. kevin, upper darby, pennsylvania, you are next. thank youod morning, for taking my call. senator harris is not a really good pick. she's not really even a black woman. she said that herself. she's not a woman of color, she never said she was a woman of color, ok? she always, she's not.

daughter of jamaican and indian immigrants? she's not a woman of color. in the primary they suggested calling her a jamaican woman. most jamaican women don't black women.selves the only reason barack obama won the election was because he was white. she's going to go down with the rest of the women. host: less than 10 minutes left in this segment. we will talk about the vp pick later in the program, but we did want to let you know about the results of some of the primaries that lace yesterday, some of those high-profile races, rollcall has a wrap up of a few of them. ohana omar winning her matchup

in minnesota. she thwarted a primary challenger who raised millions amid the national backlash over her celebrity, beating by far one of the best funded primary challengers of the four primary challengers who sought to take on the freshman lawmaker, calling it a vindication for the so-called squad of progress female freshman who sought to push house leadership to the left. omar is the left of three -- the last of three squad members to face challenges and president trump lost her minneapolis face district by 55 points in 2016. her nomination, they write, all but assures her a second term in congress. one other race that is being watched, in georgia, the headlines there, marjorie taylor greene, q and on supporter, wins

non wins the-- qa georgia primary, one of three linked to the conspiracy movement, representing a potential headache from gop toders who have been trying change the view of extremism around president trump, who believe in a deep state plot against trump. green leading that very conservative district in georgia , winning the race. it's a very conservative district. once again, the primary likely means shall be coming to congress. lonnie is next in saulsberry, north carolina. democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, good morning. there was a gentleman in there saying all this stuff about carmella harris, all the stuff she did during her reign as attorney general. had they forgotten all the stuff

the trump administration has done? kids in cages? just all kinds of horrible stuff. i think carmella harris's exit on. they are scared of her. they are trying to scare people. it won't work. she's too well known, too well-liked. her policies are great. mike pence, the per groep -- barr, they william are scared because they know their rain is coming to an end. fort lauderdale, good morning. you, everyone. when kamala harris was attorney general of california, she arrested a reporter who was investigating planned parenthood and charged him with 15 felonies and he has been in the courts fighting this for years. for example, he got testimony

from people who worked at planned parenthood that they sold aborted baby body parts for profit. they also changed the abortion procedure to give better parts, which endanger the mother. mention isi want to that some babies survive abortion and in that case they would harvest beating hearts of born babies, who are u.s. citizens. and then she rated the report -- rated the reporter's apartment ,nd got equipment and evidence the work product of his investigation. she has charged him with 15 felonies. she has been supported by planned parenthood in their campaign. that was frank, and

florida. caller: from one harris to another harris, and i'm jamaican. let's do it the fast way. all of those people saying that jamaicans aren't black, we think we are black. allor the gop, they are wonder bread. it's one color. democrats are a variety. using trump's slogan, it makes us great. all of you wonder bread white people who are scared of us, be scared. you with trump, really be scared. host: kathy, good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. she's a great pic and i think she will really help in turning the country around in the right direction. honestly, i cannot believe some of the comments this morning. mentality that school

is still alive and kicking. for all the women out there like me, who have worked in industries that were predominantly male, you know that that kind of stuff exists. it's just so old. we don't have time for any of that hatefulness anymore. we have -- now is the time for us to solve our problems. we are not on one side or the other. things that people say about how to get through tough times? this is an important time to remember those things. game changerh of a is this, do you think? do you think that vice president of picks make or break presidential campaigns? what do you think this means in terms of actually changing votes in november? caller: i think it depends on the person and the situation at andtime, and our country

everything going on with black lives matter, it's so important and overdue. it's important for us to move forward in a peaceful, appropriate, smart and lawful way. she has all the tools to do that, to help us with that. to we needt we need leadership. i understand that no peace, no justice and i think she does, to. i like that she doesn't go for the death penalty. hurts people who are in a bad situation through no fault of their own. i think she will help us in ways that we most right now. john, columbus, good morning. caller: thank you. good morning, america. as a 45-year-old pac-man, i don't like that we had to pick

-- black man, i don't like that he had to pick a black woman. on the ag thing, i want christie to be the attorney general. he seemed like he a big man that can get it done. you think that joe biden would take a republican attorney general? caller: i would like, i would like, i mean, get a little flavor up in their. christie did a good job sh. like the other ag, taking no smack. i'm in a conservative state. when i drive around the, there's a lot of joe biden signs out here. kamala harris? --ust don't think, she can it's not going to stick. i was at work last night, there was a lot of people who were kind of mad.

host: do you think those people you are talking to would now not vote for joe biden because of senator harris being on the ticket? caller: when i was leaving work last night, they were saying they weren't going to vote for him. these were some black people. they said i ain't voting for joe now. i was like why? they were talking about her record in california. i'm like this. let's be honest. black people need to be honest. there are certain black neighborhoods that black people won't go in there -- won't go into. right now, we have a problem with crime. it is young people, young black men killing black on black. host: our last caller in this

segment of the "washington journal." stick around, plenty to talk about. coming up, two points of view on the michael flynn case. first up we will be joined by barbara mcquade of university of michigan law school. a little later after that we will be joined by brett tolman, former look and counsel for the senate judiciary committee -- former republican counsel for the senate judiciary committee. we will be right back. ♪ c-span has covered every minute of every political convention since 1984, and we are not stopping now. this month's political conventions will be like none other in history, with the coronavirus pandemic still looming, plans are being altered. the democrats will meet to nominate joe biden as their president candidate on monday, and president trump will accept his party's nomination next

week. watch c-span at 9:00 p.m. eastern, for live coverage of the democratic national convention starting on monday, and the republican convention starting next monday, live streaming and on-demand at c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> the contenders, about the men who ran for the presidency in lost but changed political history, all week at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. tonight, three-time president or candidate and considered one of the best orators of his time, william jennings bryant. "> "washington journal continues. host: former u.s. attorney and current university of michigan professor barbara mcquade joins

us now to discuss michael flynn's perjury case. barbara mcquade, that case before the court of appeals for the d.c. circuit judge to. can you start by reminding viewers why it was before that panel yesterday? guest: this is very much a process case. of the-judge panel district of columbia court of forals had granted a motion an extraordinary remedy that tells a judge you must do something or not do something, and they directed the judge in the michael flynn case to dismiss the case. what happened yesterday is the full court, all 10 judges were eligible to decide this case and reheard it. they started over. host: during that hearing, michael flynn's attorney argued that the u.s. district court judge overstepped his authority in not allowing the justice

department to dismiss that case. do you think that the judge, judge sullivan, overstepped his authority? that: he hasn't yet, and is the reason this case is being heard. it is an unusual posture and that after pleading guilty, michael flynn, the justice department is dismissing the case. for that reason, the judge is required to do permission to dismiss a case. to hearuled a hearing, more about it before rendering a decision. the lawyer for michael flynn then leapfrogged that decision and went to the court of appeals to say he must dismiss, he has no discretion. that is what it was about, yesterday. even if the court ultimately decides the case, it is proper -- the go -- to go the routine route of having the trial judge make the decision, and then appealing that decision if you don't like it.

otherwise, every defendant is going to run to a court preemptively when they sense that a judge is going to rule against them. host: we want to give viewers a sense of what it was like in the court yesterday or at least what it sounded like, this hearing, streamed online. we carried it on c-span. this is michael flynn's lawyer, sidney powell, arguing on behalf of her client yesterday. [video clip] >> general flynn is a defendant without a prosecutor, in litigation without any controversy between the actual parties to the case. instead of properly granting dismissal that is required as a matter of law, judge sullivan denied two defense motions opposing any -- at all, appointed mr. gleason to usurp the job of the prosecutor, raised the sort of perjury and contempt charges over flynn's head and sallied forth to right the wrongs he perceived. -- the job ofoted

the united states attorney is otherwise occupied. in adding these unconstitutional burdens of process to punish michael flynn, judge sullivan discarded any semblance of the unbiased impartial adjudicator this court extolled in the 2019 chapter of that case saga. as a cornerstone of any system of justice with the label. host: barbara mcquade, some legal terms there but among the things, she said general flynn is a defendant without a prosecutor. in our legal system, how can a case keep going if the justice department a longer wants to prosecute that case? guest: ordinarily it is the prosecutor who has sole discretion, and for good reason. it is good to know resources, priorities and other factors, but the caselaw law that was relied upon in one of the key pieces of language in that case is that the prosecution is entitled to a presumption of

regularity in the absence of evidence to the contrary. in this case it is full of very unusual evidence. you have a case for the evidence is strong, the defendant pleads guilty. when he starts showing some discomfort with that, the judge asks him if he still wants to plead guilty, and he says yes he does and when a new attorney general comes along, throws out the work of the special prosecutor and says we are going to dismiss the case, i think that the rule that requires permission of the court is that the judge should not be a rubberstamp but should inquire deeper into the reasons for the dismissal. therney powell argued that sole purpose of the rule is to grant harassment of defendant. there is also case law that says the judge has to protect the public from a corrupt process, so that seems to be what judge sullivan is endeavoring to do by having this hearing. if you should rule against

michael flynn and the government by refusing to dismiss the case, that could be an appealable issue. there is no prosecution left, he pled guilty. billy thing left is to dole out the sentence. with usrbara mcquade, to talk about the michael flynn perjury case. happy for you to join the discussion. we would love to hear your questions and comments. republicans, (202)-748-8001. democrats, (202)-748-8000. .ndependents, (202)-748-8002 as folks are calling in, you listened to this and heard the judges questioned back and forth. are there any tea leaves to be read on how you think the larger panel of justices -- of judges will come down in this case? guest: i do. based on the questioning, it appeared that the hardest -- the

hardest questions were for michael flynn's lawyers and they asked the party to focus on the idea that michael flynn had no adequate alternative remedy what is an of -- which is one of the requirements and it should be used only sparingly and rarely. i didn't hear a satisfactory answer for that, why can't we just send this case back to judge sullivan, let him make his party and then if either is unsatisfied, they can appeal to the court. are -- there are a majority of the judges who feel the panel below got it wrong. that combination of factors suggests a strong likelihood that this case will go back to judge sullivan, and it will allow judge sullivan to make his ruling. host: if somebody doesn't like whatever the decision is that comes from this panel, can this

ruling be appealed up to the supreme court? guest: this one can. they would have to seek permission to go to the supreme court. the supreme court does not hear every case as a matter of right. it chooses cases it thinks present interesting legal questions. i don't know that this is that kind of case. perhaps if michael flynn is dissatisfied with the result here, he would seek permission for the supreme court to hear that case. that would further delay things and at the end of the day, that could be his strategy. as long as he can delay things past the election, he can make it more politically palatable for president trump to grant him a pardon, which may be all he wants anyway. even if a judge dismisses the case, if he does so without prejudice, that means the case could be brought again, with a new president shall administration as long as the statute of limitations does not expire, and it won't until

january of 2022. a nude administration could a new administration could prosecute michael flynn. host: barbara mcquade is joining us via zoom, in michigan. plenty of callers for you already. diana is in new jersey, democrat. caller: good morning. i would like to say that it is great that they are going to review the details of this case, because there is still a lot of background that has been left out of how the attorney general ms. portrayed special -- misportrayed special counsel mueller's findings and how flynn pleaded guilty twice, and only heil barr got appointed did withdraw his guilty plea. we never got an answer as to why did he lie? if he thought he was doing something innocent and legal,

then why did he lie about it? what is all that with saudi arabia, with the arms deals and everything? this needs to be looked at. they say he sold out his country. he really did. they are looking to profit off of this presidency. he has surrounded himself with tax cheats and opportunists, people over there lobbying for russia. host: barbara mcquade. we will give you a chance to jump in. guest: i tend to agree. there are a lot of things that are irregular about this. the lies to the fbi. if you read the mueller report, during the time he was having his conversation with the russians, flynn he wasn't freelancing, he was going back and forth and talking with high-level members of the trump transition team, including steve bannon down at mar-a-lago. then he was having these

conversations. he spoke to russia and said sanctions onbout the same day that president obama and post them. that was an effort to retaliate against russia for interfering with our elections. that raised all kinds of questions, not the least of which is that he was undermining the foreign policy of the united states. to suggest that lying about that was no big deal is, to me, unfathomable. it was a serious crime. what was stated in the motion to dismiss was that this wasn't material to any investigation, because there was no crime to investigate. i believe there was, but even if there wasn't, the fbi has a mission to protect the country against intelligence threats. they had a duty to ask these questions, and the idea that this was all just some witchhunt to get michael flynn does not strike me as a credible explanation. host: our line republicans.

this is frank in new york. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you very much for giving me the time to get on the air. my thing is -- how come president obama said that flynn the north koreans where the two most dangerous things that trump could get into his party? doesn't that stink of high heaven? goter two is i think flynn railroaded with the fbi. nobody has even looked at that. if an african-american pleads it is thea murder, same idea here. i think this is a railroad job. there is something going on in this country, that is hiding flynn from obama. flynn hasn't been able to write a book about obama, but there is a lot of stuff in his background. why is obama so afraid of flynn?

guest: if you're interested in my response, i don't know what goes on in the minds of any of these individuals, but we know from the facts that michael flynn was working on behalf of the government of turkey, and that he failed to notify the united states about that, but he wrote an op-ed on behalf of the dickey -- of the government of turkey. in his plea agreement, he admitted not only was he lying to the fbi, but about that illegal conduct with regard to turkey. it may be that president obama knewhat michael flynn -- that michael flynn was dealing with foreign governments for profit without disclosing that, and feared he would not be the good public servant on behalf of the united states, especially somebody with very sensitive security clearance, we about your contacts with foreign governments, they know something that our government doesn't know, and it leaves us very susceptible to blackmail. -- on a background

investigation, people are investigated for whether they are susceptible to blackmail, because if they are, and you have secrets, someone can use that as leverage to get you to behave in ways that is not in the best interest of the united states. as for michael flynn leading guilty to a crime he did not commit. we have evidence of what he told the fbi during the interview in 2017 which directly contradicts what is on recordings of his conversation with russian -- with russian agents. to say he is not guilty is just wrong. it is objectively recorded. host: one of the headlines coming out of yesterday's hearing, the front page of the washington times, secret evidence seen as kiefer flynn, pointing to the oral arguments and comments made by solicitor general jeffrey wallace, saying the decision to drop the flynn case based partially on secret evidence.

what did you take from that? guest: i don't know that what i heard goes that far, but there was this interesting nugget that came out. this is not mentioned in the motion that went to judge sullivan, that was based on a conclusion that there was no purpose for this investigation, and therefore his lies were not material. what we heard yesterday was the solicitor general said there may be other reasons that an attorney general would want to dismiss a case that he could not reveal to the court. he did not quite go so far to say as -- goof -- go so far as to say that happened here, just in some cases. it is a possibility that what is going on here, some reasons he could be referring to, we know that john durham, the u.s. attorney in connecticut is investigating the origins of the fbi's investigation into russian election interference. it could be that he would have

to either confirm or deny the existence of that investigation, or talk about things he found in that investigation. that would certainly be improper. there could very well be classified information in a case like this, about the technique by which they recorded the conversation between michael flynn and sergei. ability forays the the government to tell the judge in chambers or to file a document under seal. they wouldn't have to publicly disclose that, but they could satisfy the court that there is some valid reason for dismissing the case, and not simply some arbitrary reason to benefit an ally of the president. host: just about 10 minutes left with barbara mcquade. if you don't get your call answered in this question -- in the segment, we will continue this discussion in our next half-hour as well. kathleen is in mississippi, a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning.

thank you. thank you for my call. [indiscernible] they manipulate facts. roger stone said somebody in the senate got my back. it's all wrong. thank you. host: barbara mcquade. the role of faisal warrants here -- fisa warrants here. guest: there has been investigation into the use of fisa warrants and the inspector general issued a scathing report about inconsistencies. it appears it is sloppiness on the part of the fbi, which is a real drop of its obligation to ensure that accurate facts are presented to the court.

the most egregious example was an fbi lawyer who altered emailed to give it the opposite meaning of what it had, about whether carter page was an advisor to the trump campaign, was or was not an asset of the cia. it may be that these are innocent mistakes that were case like thisa where the stakes were so high, one would expect the very best in the performance of the fbi, and instead we got a very shoddy job. the inspector general went back later and investigated 26 separate fisa applications and found problems in all of them. they weren't necessarily problems where people's rights were being violated, but sloppiness was being done. the ability to collect intelligence against people in the united states, for contacts with foreign agents. is required to be

scrupulously careful. what does this mean for the flynn investigation? nothing at all. that is related to somebody named carter page and was not used by robert mueller in his investigation. i think there are times when people point to that which is a serious problem to suggest that it means the whole investigation is somehow invalid, and that is not the case. this was a small piece of it. think of it as a huge house with a strong foundation, and somebody built a very small that was on a shaky foundation. the sunroom is bad, but the rest of the house stands. host: outside what it means for michael flynn, can you talk about the larger implications, and why we are tracking this case as closely. american joseph on twitter rights in, why are we supposed to care about this dead horse?

guest: that is a really great question. we should care immensely about it. it is not a dead horse or one single case. it is emblematic of william barr's effort to undo all the work that robert mueller did in his investigation of russian interference in the election. thatis case gets a pass, invites russia and other adversaries to interfere in our elections in the future. we have seen william barr do a in not onlyings, dismissing the flynn case but also intervening in the stone case to recommend a lower sentence, we saw his deputy giving special treatment to paul manafort ads -- as to his place of confinement. we saw the justice department dismiss a case against russian entities that were funding the social media campaign of propaganda for the 2016 election. if all of that goes to pass, and we say that is not a big deal, then it suggests that it is open

season for election interference. the sanctions president obama imposed were intended to say to russia, don't mess with us when it comes to our elections. to then say forget about it says go ahead, interfere with the election, as long as you pick the winner. i think regardless of who russia likes, we want americans choosing the american president. host: one more question from jimbo in california. can the president pardon michael flynn before judge sullivan passes his sentence? guest: yes. president trump pardon michael flynn anytime. as we saw with roger stone, it seems most likely what the president wants to do politically is wait as long as he has to, before extending that political capital, because if he grants a pardon of michael flynn, there will be those who cry out and say this is political cronyism. what he could do is wait until the day that michael flynn has to report to prison, and then give him a pardon, and that

could be months from now. it could even be after the election. on november 4, if president trump wins or loses, he has the power to pardon all the way through the end of his term. host: just a few minutes left, but stick on the lines if you don't get through. we will be joined by former u.s. attorney brett tolman, next to dicken -- to continue discussions on this topic. this is tony, out of fort lauderdale. independent. caller: good morning. i just want to take three different facts. i want to correct the record. michael flynn was not charged with perjury. please stop saying about his perjury trial. he was not charged with perjury. i also want to address this guest's comment that he is facing serious charges, and yet he was facing no jail time. the plea-bargain had gone -- had gotten rid of the jail time. i want to address, what was the

live? flynn said he couldn't remember. -- i am going to plead guilty to avoid jail time. -- we've gotng is here that is-ite so willing to get michael flynn, they are willing to throw away all of the protections. aranda was guilty. miranda was guilty. his conviction got overturned, and we have miranda warnings as a result. civil liberties overall. i don't care about michael flynn and turkey. that is immaterial. this is straight mccarthyism and it needs to stop. host: barbara mcquade. guest: michael flynn admitted twice under oath that he did lie to the fbi. his crime was false statements. you are correct, it was not perjury. it was false statements.

he was interviewed by the fbi and told them lies. he said he sent lee forgot. he discussed sanctions. discuss sanctions with russia? no i didn't, it was just pleasantries. it is implausible that he forgot a conversation that happened only 10 days earlier. when the record shows that this was not some of the came up in passing, but they had numerous conversations about it, they spoke and wrote and he talked and consulted with people at mar-a-lago, came back and spoke again. it was the day of the sanctions, they came back and spoke again. as asay congratulations, result of your conversation, it appears you were successful in russia has agreed not to retaliate. the idea that he didn't remer that conversation, that they only talked about cousin trees and holiday greetings is implausible. he admitted twice under oath that he did room ever that conversation and did lie to the fbi.

the suggestion that he was railroaded is false, and the idea that this is immaterial and unimportant is also false. it was about the national security of the united states and sending a strong message to russia, that they should not and cannot interfere with our elections without extreme consequences, and michael flynn said from the position of the trauma administration, that's ok. i think it is not ok, and it is also not ok to lie about it, because that makes it that much harder for the fbi to find out what hot -- what happened and it took robert mueller 18 months to get to the bottom of this. host: to chris in virginia, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i came to this country in 1973. for the first time, i don't feel like we have a system of law. the law is not applied to everybody. attorney general's interfering in prosecution.

the president has surrounded himself with criminals. admitted that he was an agent for turkey. he lied to the fbi. dismissed. would be i feel like the president is doing whatever he wants. -- from being politically motivated to prosecute or dismiss cases. do we still have law in this country? it is like a terrible country with no regulation. the president can do whatever he wants. pentagon,ney from the and put it toward the wall. he said he is going to delay the election. host: we will give barbara

mcquade the final minute. guest: i agree. i think it is damaging when the president does not act within the bounds of the law. we are a country bound by the rule of law, and the attorney general is facilitating this. it is important not only that we follow the law, but that we have the appearance of following the law. when president trump tweets about his enemies and allies, and then we see the attorney general acting in concert with those wishes, it does suggest that the president is punishing people for their politics and helping his friends, like roger stone and michael flynn for political reasons. that undermines the trust of the public has in our criminal justice system. it makes it harder for fbi agent's to be believed on the witness stand, or when they want to interview people in neighborhoods about crime. as a result of that, people are less inclined to cooperate with law enforcement, and our country will be less safe as a result, when president trump has abused the rule of law in this country. host: we will end it there.

barbara mcquade is a fetzer at the university of michigan law school, and a former u.s. attorney. we appreciate your time. guest: thanks very much. host: up next, we continue this discussion on the rehearing of the michael flynn case. we will be joined by brett tolman, former u.s. attorney and former republican counsel for the senate judiciary committee. we will be right back. ♪ >> sunday night, on q&a, journalist and author elaine weiss on her book, the woman's hour, about the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote. >> it passes the house by a margin, very small. it passes the senate with only a two vote margin. there are senators who are

sitting on it after the house passes it in 1918, and it takes until june of 1919 before it passes both houses. and then the senate knew they were sending it out for inification in the states, an off year when most state legislatures were not going to be in session. that was sort of purposeful, to make it more difficult. the suffragettes had to convince 30 governors to call their legislators back in two special sessions to consider the eminent. host: elaine weiss -- >> elaine weiss, sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. c-span2 has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. coming up saturday at 5:00 p.m. eastern.

about the black lives matter movement. on sunday, at 9:00 p.m. eastern former deputy assistant attorney general in the george w. bush , withstration john yoo his book, defender in chief. he is interviewed by mark -- mark roselle -- watch book tv this weekend on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: for another perspective on the michael flynn case, we turn now to former u.s. attorney and former senate judiciary committee republican counsel, brett tolman. we have been talking about this case for the past half-hour. i wonder after watching it yesterday, do you think michael

flynn's attorney did what sheeting to to do to make her case before that panel of judges yesterday? guest: it is a difficult case, if your focus is simply on the politics of the matter, but if you are looking at the law and the facts in the case, i think ms. powell has the stronger side of the facts and the law, given that the executive branch is the one that should be determining whether a case goes forward or not. host: the headline from the washington post this morning, judges skeptical of shutting down a review of the flynn case. i wonder your reading of the judges' reactions and interactions with the lawyer. guest: anytime you are in front of one judge, it is difficult as an attorney, to be in front of multiple judges at the appellate court level, that is a challenge. i have been there, and you don't know which question is coming, and sometimes i have had judges

that i thought were absolutely against my position and gave me the hardest time in the courtroom, and i left very disappointed only to find out later that they actually agreed with me, but we were testing the parameters of the argument -- but they were testing the parameters of the argument. i would think any lawyer in front of the court certainly have to take a step back and watch and see what happens. there are some incredible he thoughtful judges on this panel. you look at merrick garland, and i expect he is one that does not put politics in front of his role to assess the facts and the law. i am interested to see what will happen. host: we are trying to give our viewers a flavor of that hearing yesterday. we streamed it live and aired it on c-span. you mentioned judge merrick garland. this is the judge with acting solicitor general jeffrey wall, talking about the government's

argument in that hearing. [video clip] >> the government has already given its reasons for dismissing this case, correct? that is, as the panel says, the motion explained -- the government explains that a new -- in newly discovered evidence, the prosecution can no longer put behind a reasonable doubt -- beyond a reasonable doubt. >> that was one of the reasons. >> i will take all three. you stated three reasons, and i assume you believe those are true, correct? >> yes. >> what more is there for you to say. let me put it another way. that optional? did you not have to say that much in your motion to dismiss? >> i don't think we did, and we often don't, but under the circumstances here, we went further than we thought we were obligated to. just to drive that point home, the attorney general sees this in a context of nonpublic

information. >> i am not in any way questioning anything underlying. i am asking, this was the reason given, and you gave this reason. >> i just wanted to make clear that it may possible the attorney general had information that he was not able to share with the court. so what we put in front of the court were the reasons that we could, but it may not be the whole picture available. host: brett tolman, one of the headlines coming out from that exchange, secret evidence seen as key for flynn. what do you make of that exchange, and the possibility of secret evidence or evidence the court hasn't seen? secretall evidence is until it is brought out in public view. you do not know what the government has, and all the information it has. you just take the evidence it did have. the key witness is peter strzok in this case.

yorty have very damaging issues with your key witness in the case, not to mention the documents that were uncovered. everything you have that is in justified view has the department of justice being very concerned. here we are, in a world that seems tipped upside down. you have a defense attorney and former judge who was concerned about -- and a past life, this judge was concerned about the government abusing its power, but now you have a defense attorney arguing on behalf of a judge who is no longer concerned about the government abuse of power, who wants to maintain a case that the department of justice says that not only don't feel they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt but feel they are justified because of the issues in the case in the conduct of the fbi investigating the case, and every defense attorney in the country should

be standing up and sharing. host: several callers already for you. the phone lines, if you want to join the conversation. (202)-748-8001 republicans, -- republicans, (202)-748-8001. democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. patty is up first. go ahead, you are on with brett tolman. caller: i am calling, because flynn is being fed up by obama. don't forget he worked for obama. obama fired him because they disagreed about iran. he warned trump not to pick him, because he was afraid he was going to talk. flynn knows where the bodies are buried. the lastatened flynn, lawyers he had. they threatened to arrest his son. i would give in and lie that i was guilty. people were coming out now is saying that the fbi found nothing wrong with flynn.

page whoruck in lisa decided they were going to go after him. lisa page, they are even saying changed a 302 against flynn. there is so much corruption here. the government is going to have egg on their face. i've seen paperwork already. it was a set up. obama is afraid. host: you have seen paperwork already? caller: it is being released. i've seen the paperwork. he's innocent. host: that is patty, in connecticut. brett tolman. guest: perhaps not all of those facts are out in the public it. i think it gives the flavor of what the country is viewing from this case, in particular, and that is you certainly have

misconduct by the fbi in the investigation. you have concerns over key witnesses, you have concerns over what patty referred to as a set up, and let's look at that. you have a director of the fbi that directs the investigation to go forward, despite the fbi finding that there wasn't a basis to really believe there was any concern for the investigation to begin with. it is very much like the attorney general indicated on multiple occasions. it was in search of something without a predicate to open the investigation or be concerned about the investigation. that doesn't include what then came out as -- we now know that the agents in the interview believed he was telling the truth. people asked a question, why would somebody plead guilty, and there are many reasons. i have been in the criminal

justice system for newly 20 plus years -- for nearly 20 plus years. people plead guilty for a number of reasons. it is the fear of what might happen if they went to trial, and the long sentence that could occur. the fact that they may expand the investigation to include other people that you care about. there are many reasons, and it seems like some of that was in play. host: to kathy out of delaware, republican. caller: good morning to both of you. he is absolutely right. you cannot take politics out of this situation. for one thing, when the two fbi agent's went to flynn originally -- agents went to flynn originally, i do not understand why when they did not mirandized him, because that was the purpose of them being there, they lied about that from the get-go. from that point on, this whole

thing is tainted, it is corrupt, it is collusion, and it is all about comey and his co-conspirators to get donald trump. guilty because he had the entire justice system at the very top working against him, and he lost all of his wealth and had no place to go. what was he going to do but plead guilty. your guest is correct. of getting out of the mess without further ruining his life. everyone out there should be very concerned that this country was led down a path of total corruption, just to get one president. i am very sorry for this country, that they can't see that. host: brett tolman, anything to

add to that? guest: ilya thing i would add is one of the reasons why we want prosecutors to look critically at their cases is because of the enormous power that we give them. they are the only agency that has the ability to take away somebody is liberty and freedom. when i was an assistant u.s. attorney and then a u.s. attorney, i understood that power, but i don't think i really truly felt the impact of the power until i became a defense attorney for about a decade. then i got to see how that power is wielded, and there are instances in which individuals are targeted, and you reach a conclusion and the investigation is done in a way to justify the conclusion that you have already reached. we need to be better than that. we can be better than that. this particular case, general

flynn, there was not a basis to investigate him. deception when they interacted with him. there is a conclusion by the fbi, but there was not a case to be brought, and that was overruled by those higher up, and those higher up are now seen as perhaps having more of a political agenda than we would like to think occurs at the fbi or department of justice. host: our next caller, james out of massachusetts, democrat. caller: in reference to the last lady that was on here, i would like to know what tony podesta's role was with all of the stuff and paul manafort, when manafort was arraigned and everything and tony podesta grabbed all of his millions of dollars in took off because he was john podesta's brother.

howuld also like to know many violations are there usually in a year or two years in the federal government? my understanding is it is routinely violated and there are several -- was never ever charged and this was the original charge that flynn was brought up on, that they ponied up and i don't understand why this is not a coerced confession or coerced plea deal in the minute they find out, because they were 80 pages of evidence presented in the appeal to sullivan. hadof 100 pages, 80 of them evidence on them and we better drop this. thank you very much. i think the interesting part of that comment is getting back to judge

sullivan. believee appears to that he has a central role in deciding whether or not the case should be dismissed. does require the prosecutor to file and get leave of the court, it is really just a procedural mechanism, because the court has a docket and the cases on the -- and the case is on the court docket and only the court can remove it. i am sad to see that we have lost that and all of a sudden we have a judicial branch stepping into the shoes of the executive branch, wanting to assess the facts and the law and terms of whether or not to grant a dismissal of a case that the department of justice says they no longer have the ability to pursue or should pursue, based on numerous factors, factors that are known and unknown to us.

this is a dangerous precedent to set. every defense attorney, every organization and agency out there that has been fighting for criminal justice reform should be standing up and applauding the fact that the department of justice is making a decision with these facts on the table to dismiss a case. instead, their hatred for this president and their concern over the attorney general making this decision as a political decision is greater than their love or forction for justice, and the fair administration of justice, and that is concerning to me. host: do you think president trump should step in and issue a pardon for general flynn? guest: it is certainly within his prerogative to do so. i would like to see the judicial branch acknowledge and recognize that we have given all the prosecutorial power to the

executive branch, and that a profit of justice, the attorney general of the united states, indicate that it would be wrong to pursue a case any further and it wishes to dismiss it, i would like to see that happen, the judicial branch grant that and they move on. but the president has the prerogative. i'm certain he will look at that decision. judge sullivan appears to be playing political games in this case, whether it is causing delays in order to stretch this out until after the election, or whether it is because he built up personal animus toward general flynn. either way, it is inappropriate right now, what is happening and i hope there is relief soon. i am more concerned about the integrity of the separation of our branches of government. host: tim out of texas, independent. good morning. caller: first of all, i would

like to say that michael flynn pled guilty twice. he pled guilty twice that the government had enough evidence to convict him without reasonable doubt. this is not a conspiracy against trump. he was indicted by a grand jury. he would have been convicted by a jury had he gone to trial. he admitted so, twice. judge sullivan has the authority to file for a brief. it is to force judge sullivan to dismiss the case, which he may or may not do. the panel may not decide they will enforce it. it is filed after the judgment is made by judge sullivan. ity jumped ahead and filed to force him to do something ultimately he hadn't even ruled on the case. i would also like to say, michael flynn's own surveillance, he and his son, conspiring to kidnap a turkish cleric living in pennsylvania, to have him rendition back to turkey so he could be executed. michael flynn is a criminal. bill barr is a criminal.

donald trump is a criminal. he is no patriot. this is not in the administration based on the rule of law. host: brett tolman, can you explain what the writ is? guest: before we talk about it, one of the factors that is often forgotten is the attorney general has the exclusive authority to bring a case and present it to the grand jury. there is no mechanism, there is no grand jury to go back to when you want to dismiss a case. that authority lies with the attorney general. remember, it is the same attorney general that declined to prosecute andrew mccabe after the ig found he had lied to an investigator. this attorney general is not looking at the politics of this. he is looking at the facts and

the law. it is politics that are getting injected into it by a judge who refuses to acknowledge the authority to dismiss a case is within the department of justice. is a difficult decision to be made, when you might request a writ, it is an for lacknary motion, of a better description, that you would file because you have no other avenue for relief. in this case, ms. powell filed that, she did so because she felt that judge sullivan was refusing to dismiss the case and acknowledge the authority of the executive branch. host: time for a few more calls. less than 10 minutes with brett tolman as we talk about the michael flynn case. this is janice out of york, maine, a democrat. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. the only thing that concerns me

is when one of the judges rule,d talking about the and said that the rules not only theected the rights of defendant, but it protected the is kind people, so it of like it is bifurcated. generalike the attorney dismissing the case, how can he do that? how can you represent the --rican people against favoritism because of a political client, and at the same time represent a defendant who is a political client, and team on the same political

that the attorney general is on. that. you would speak to guest: when i was making the decisions, and it is a heavy burden to make prosecutorial decisions. i had fbi agent's who brought cases to me and wanted me to authorize prosecution, and i declined and they certainly weren't happy about it. i also had instances when i pursued a case that i later learned was a case that did not deserve to be prosecuted. whether it was weakness in the evidence or misconduct by the investigators. i have seen both. in this case, let's not forget at the very heart of this is a case that the fbi fabricated. when i say fabricated, they set general flynn up in a manner in

which their purpose was to or getcatch him in a lie him fired, and the agents themselves indicated they didn't believe he was lying. interview,a formal but more one in which you let it interact with fbi agent's like colleagues would do. that should concern everybody, that on that sort of weak factual basis, they pursued a case. the politics in this case, while there are some, are not on the side of the attorney general, looking at it and assessing not just the weaknesses in the evidence, but the misconduct by the investigation and those that made decisions on the investigation. we should be concerned but a case like this does not get dismissed. we should be concerned that a case like this began with politics. hopefully it ends, setting

politics aside. host: to the lone star state, this is gina, a republican. caller: glad to talk with you all. i was concerned about our judicial system. notullivan is able to dismiss the case totally, our whole country is in trouble with our judicial system and prosecution system. that means any judge will be able to go in and say i know i don't have the facts, but we will still keep prosecuting this. and also, i want to say that ahead-- why don't we go and get this case over with, see , that is myto say main point. let's see what flynn has to say to america. host: brett tolman.

guest: the judge in this case, i fabricated or produced a basis for the judicial branch to take on a role that it hasn't previously done in this country. you can hear in the arguments in the case, the uncomfortable tension when it comes to describing what the judge is doing and what the judge has to do if they return the case to him. here iscannot avoid really seeing clearly a judge who has been outspoken about his animosity toward this administration, and against this defendant in particular, who brought on another former judge who is outspoken against this administration, who is now

pursuing a course of action that would change the dynamic between the executive and the judicial branch, going forward. that should be something we are concerned about. a political frustration or a political opposition to our administration should not cause us to whittle away the rule of law and the integrity between the branches of this government. host: last call out of new york city, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. c-span is excellent. i would like to begin by saying i believe mr. tolman is being disingenuous because the justice department spaces that -- justice department's basis to drop the case because there was nothing there, that was before it was revealed he was talking to the russians and lying about it. there, the case only went forward because new information

was revealed, and i believe already that barr and trump have damaged the justice department's role with the american people. thanks for c-span, and have a good day. host: brett tolman, you have the last minute and a half. guest: the caller points out that he was already talking to the russians and that he lied about it. let's take those one at a time. there is nothing wrong with him talking to the russians. he was going to be in a significant position, in an incoming administration. conversations with the russians, that would be understandable. the question about whether he lied is really at the heart of whether or not there was a case to pursue. you have the director of the fbi indicating to the president and others that he did not believe

there was anything untoward, in terms of general flynn's discussions with the russians. they then did a follow-up, and you have concerning notes by the fbi, and we should be concerned about the fbi when they target an individual and seem to have an agenda in their investigation, reaching a conclusion for example before they investigate the case. there are notes here that suggest, they don't prove but they suggest, that their purpose in meeting with and talking to general flynn was to either get him fired, or to catch him in a lie. you have already, and the beginning of this investigation, serious concerns about the authenticity and integrity of the investigation. i was a prosecutor. i wanted to be tough on crime. what i never wanted to see happen was that we pushed an investigation because we had something in mind, other than

the facts and the law at stake. here, it appears that politics was what was in the mind of those who were pursuing this case and authorizing it. host: we will lend it there for now. former u.s. attorney, former republican counsel for the senate judiciary committee. appreciate your time. about one hour left on the washington journal. we will go back to the news yesterday that joe biden picked kamala harris as his running mate. in your reaction to that news. public ends, (202) 748-8001 is the number of call. democrats, (202) 748-8000. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 go ahead, start dialing in. we will be right back.

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host: we take you to the front page of today's "new york times," headline there, kamala harris joins in ticket. -- biden ticket. a 55-year-old daughter of jamaican and indian immigrants. that picture of her on the front page of the new york times. we are getting your reaction to joe biden making his vp pick. the lines are open. .epublicans, (202) 748-8001 democrats, (202) 748-8000. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 debbie, flint, michigan. democrats. you are up. caller: i think it is a great pick. picking kamala harris is a not to the law and order crowd. i am a retired paralegal. i think that joe may have done

this to kind of put a damper on the defund the police. i don't think any of the moderate democrats believe that. kamala harris wants them to all wear the body cameras. i think that is a great idea. john, one more thing. you hear a lot of republicans pointing out people talking about defunding the police. i agree, the fund is not the proper word for it. however, the republicans have sat by and watched donald trump defund the epa, defund the consumer action bureau, defund the pandemic office. he has defunded the state department by not putting people in there. thes essentially defunding inspector general positions by firing them. great pickk it is a for joe. i think a lot of people do not believe in defunding the police.

i live in flint, michigan. we don't have horrible crime, but we still have crime. they've gotten that largely under control. i think flint, michigan, a lot of people ought to come to flint and see how we live here. we get along better than these it is more like 20% black and 80% white. host: that is debbie in flint, michigan. bedford, texas. republican. her thoughts on the pick? i really love c-span and i really want to tell you why. it is because of c-span that i have seen kamala harris legislate in the senate and i'm thankful for that, because even though she is a democrat i know who she is. she is a good person and you guys do a great service. met: tony, since you gave the opening, kamala harris

appearing on c-span 195 times. that is how many times she is in our video library. we open that up for anyone to view a special page highlighting her appearances at c-span.org. caller: do you know who else is? all of the other people who represent our government. thank you, c-span. i don't need snapshots from the internet or fox or any of the news channels when i can get c-span. thank you. host: thank you, tony. appreciate that. helen. reidsville, north carolina. independent. caller: i've got several things i want to comment on. , i think sometimes you let people talk way too long and deprive other people of their opinion. i would also like people to know agreement withan kamala harris when that

nondisclosure agreement of something that happened, i think when she was out in california. this woman will do and say anything to get elected. does when that she she was working in california is just absolutely pathetic. host: what is an example where you think she flip-flopped? about, well, she talks you know, the police and then now they want to, oh, it is not defunding the police. humiliated mr. kavanaugh in the hearings. her own daddy made a remark about her. i would like for people to find out about this disclosure agreement she signed. don't let people talk so long, sir.

you asked a question, let them answer it and go on. some people go for five minutes. you are depriving other people to voice their opinion. thank you and you have a good day. host: you have a great day too, helen. it comes to kamala harris' policies, the headline from the times today, she is aligned with biden, that is left of center. you were talking about policing and justice issues. this is what they had to say. ms. harris released plans outlining her vision for criminal justice reform and how to stand up for black america. as part of those plans, ms. harris called for ending mass incarceration, cash bail, and the death penalty, creating a , making attending historically black colleges free for students. stand on capital punishment has drawn scrutiny as san francisco's district attorney

ms. harris, -- -- as attorney general she appealed this decision, declaring california's death penalty law unconstitutional. perhaps the most memorable moment of her campaign came during the first round of the democratic primary debates when ms. harris confronted mr. biden about his recollections of working with segregationist in the senate. up about hered personal history with school busing. [video clip] >> there was personal and it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two united states senators who built their thetation and career on segregation of race in this country. butit was not only that, you also worked with them to oppose busing. it was a little girl in california who was part of the

second class to integrate her public schools. and she was bused to school every day. and that little girl was me. so, i will tell you that on this subject it cannot be an intellectual debate among the crowds. have to take it seriously. we have to act swiftly. as attorney general i was proud to put in place a requirement that all of my special agents would wear body cameras and keep those cameras on. biden namedday joe kamala harris as his running mate in the 2020 election. taking your phone calls, getting your thoughts about that news. sherry, dallas, texas. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i love the idea that biden chose harris. this is wonderful. it is time for a change and a change is coming. think this makes

people any more likely to vote for joe biden? do you think this changes the dynamic of the race? caller: yes. he get that not only do more votes for black people, but he get votes for white people, men, young people who are coming out of high school -- excuse me, coming out of college. i think this is an awesome decision overall rate i am overwhelmed with the decision they made. this is great. you can really tell that times are changing. and it is time for times to change. host: i should note that joe biden and kamala harris set to appear today in wilmington, delaware. we are expecting to see that event at some point today. c-span.org for listings and timings on that.

, republican.lorida good morning, you are next. caller: good morning. how is it going? host: going well. caller: the first thing i would like to say is, the democratic devious the party of tactics and subterfuge. all they want to do is get in power. what they charge the conservative party and the principles is that they are guilty of what they are attacking us for. because joe biden is a racist, kamala harris's anti-police. she was an attorney general, so it seems to me that they are getting everything backwards. they want open borders. down in california -- this is , they- the high school

had a meeting for parents. and the parents who could not speak spanish had earphones on to interpret the meeting that was held in spanish. i think this country is going to the dogs. anything goes is what the democratic party stands for, as long as they get in power. it is sad because this country was not built on those kinds of machinations that they are putting in place right now. host: sean is next. baltimore. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to say that i am extremely disappointed in this pic. i'm so disappointed to the point -- let me just say, i am a black trump. does not support this might make me support from. i'm tired of the pandering. kamala harris is far-left. it is ridiculous.

this pic really angered me, what sheid you hear said about health care? she wanted to get rid of insurance. then she went back on it. he knew with the question was. he wanted to get rid of insurance. she wanted state run insurance. also, she hates school choice. i am for school choice. i like public schools, but i think in the black community, in the hood, we need school choice. kavanaugh, treated that was ridiculous. i'm not saying kavanaugh is in a , ite, but at the same time was no type of evidence. they couldn't prove he did do it, so if you didn't like the man, just vote no and keep it moving. host: who would you have liked to have seen?

caller: maybe jennings. what made me mad about joe biden was, why did he get pushed into this corner saying, hey, when they ask him about, are you going to pick a woman? he could have said, i'm going to pledge to pick the best candidate. it is getting crazy. i'm getting tired of the democrats, i'm getting tired of the last -- left. left thinks they can talk for black people. 81% of black people want police. let me tell you, i used to be all for democrats but it is really, these leftists, the democrats will not condemn anti fa. these people are out of their minds. they need to look at what

happened to the soviet union. they need to look at cuba. it is bananas. woke,woke folks, they are but they don't know what malcolm x said about the white liberals. i see it happening. my whole point is, kamala harris it.joe biden, i can't do i'm not voting joe biden. i can't say i'm going to vote for trump. i most definitely i'm not voting democrat. host: that is sean in baltimore. sean said he could have seen himself supporting val demings. here is a few of her tweets from yesterday after the harris pic was announced. a girlings writing, for who grew up poor, black, and female and the south, to be considered has been an incredible honor. she writes, to see a black woman --inated

promises to ticket restore america's faith that we can defeat covid-19 and restore honor and integrity to the white house. and expand access to health care and opportunity for all. some of the comments from val demings. she had several more tweets yesterday. charles is in north carolina, a democrat. what did you think of the pic? caller: i thought the pic was pretty good. i think she will do a good job. but to comment on the guy who just talked about, he might not vote, i've never seen anything so sickening to hear. we've got a man of the white house doing whatever he wants to do. then you find people trying to do the right thing -- not saying she is perfect, but we know what we got in the white house. saying you're not going to vote, that is stupid. you want to put the same man

back in there doing the same thing even worse than what he is doing now, then you were going to say you're not going to vote? don't go vote. you don't need to be here. if you can't pass judgment on right and wrong and you see trump doing wrong, but you want to say you don't want to go vote. please, don't do that. , ifard another person say it picked a black woman, what is wrong with a woman? there's nothing wrong with a woman helping to run the country. maybe that is what is needed, , heaven helpaid me, then joe biden picks a black woman. it shows that it is not like it used to be. republicanske the have, just white folks on the ticket. joe biden shows that we can be diverse and have black-and-white working together. host: that is charles in north

carolina. in pennsylvania. go ahead. caller: hello. a collar on the earlier segment the tape ofou show harrissi gabbard-kamala during the primary debate. you are always quick to pull up those, but i haven't seen it yet. are you going to show that? host: i don't have it at my fingertips, but explain why you would like to see it and what you think it shows about kamala harris. caller: i think it is a good tape to show. people need to see it. host: why do you think people need to see it? caller: tulsi gabbard lays out

everything that anyone needs to know about kamala harris. this is jim, brownsville, oregon. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. it is amazing, and i'm so happy about the pic. this't think trump and administration is happy, that is for sure. just got off, by this lastrior to gentleman made it so clear. those guys are so afraid of harris because harris is going that thisre administration answers the question as to why he cannot say anything bad about putin but can say everything bad about the people running against him, his own intelligence agency.

what is it about him? what is it with him and putin he can't say anything about this man? he is scared to death of him. what does putin have on him? look, over 160,000 people are dead. most of them are senior citizens. they are still dying because of what this man did not do. you know? who wants him back in the office? why would anyone put this person back in the office? he is not for america. he is not for our democracy and he calls people nasty and say, people hate america. he does nothing for america. it is all about himself. how can we put this man back in the office for another four years? going to be great to have someone in the office now that

people treat black people and who loves america. that is going to be wonderful to see again. seen this who haven;t in so long, they're going to realize how terrible this president has been. please, america, please do not put this man, this administration -- pens, none of them -- don't put them back into office. another four years, we will not have a democracy. this morning i told the previous call it that i did not have that clip. of kamala harris and tulsi gabbard. i do now. thanks to my producer. here is that clip, about 40 seconds of it. [video clip] >> i'm deeply concerned about this record. there are too many examples the site, but she put over 1500 people in jail for marijuana

violations and then laughed about it. she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. she kept people in prison beyond their sentences. she used them as cheap labor for california. [applause] place thatsystem in impacts poor people in the worst kinds of ways. host: the august 2019 democratic debate that cnn debate. to your phone calls. this is john in jonesboro, georgia. republican. your next. caller: good morning. doesn'tler from oregon know his politics, i can assure you of that. trump has been the best president we have had since lincoln. blacksdone more for the than obama and biden ever did in

eight years. i'm going to tell you right now, the reason that he didn't pick susan rice, she has got too much baggage. especially when it comes out atet she was in on the spyg on the trump campaign. das harris was the worst that the state of california ever had. she locked up more blacks in one year than any other district gave themnd she sentences way beyond what it called for. georgia,t is john in mentioning president trump. president trump discussed the kamala harris pic yesterday at his press briefing. here is what the president had to say. concerned,s kemal is she is a big tax-razor --

raiser. she has got a lot of difficult things that she is going to have to explain. plus, she was very, very nasty to -- one of the reasons that surprised me -- she was probably nastier even than pocahontas to joe biden. she was very disrespectful to joe biden and it is hard to pick somebody that is that disrespectful. she said things during the debates, during the democrat primary debates that were horrible about slippage of. -- sleepy joke. host: that was president trump at the white house. for more from senator kamala harris you can go to our website at c-span.org. some 195 appearances in the video library that you can browse. among them, the senator's comments shortly before the chamber's final vote on the impeachment trial of president

trump back in february. this is senator harris. justice in this trial as yet another example of the way that our system of justice has worked , or more accurately, failed to work. he is the thing. frederick douglas also told us struggle,here is no there is no progress. " he went on to say that power concedes nothing without a demand. and he said it never did and never will. to wrestle power away from the few people at the very their power, the american people are going to have to fight for the voice of the people and the power of the people. we must go into the darkness to

shine the light and we cannot be deterred and we cannot be overwhelmed and we cannot ever .ive up on our country we cannot ever give up on the ideals that are the foundation for our system of democracy. we can never give up on the meaning of truth, justice. it is part of our history, our past, clearly our present, and makeuture that in order to these values real, in order to make the promise of our country real we can never take it for granted. there will be moments in time and history where we experience incredible disappointment, but the greatest disappointment of up.will be if we give fighting ever give up

for who we know we are. bemust always see who we can , unburdened by who we have been. that is the strength of our nation. host: that was senator harris on the senate floor back in february of this year. back to your phone calls this morning. this is ruth in illinois, an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. on kamala harris, she said if she became president she would write an executive order to take our guns away. and she wants health care run by the government. and if you have private health care, she will take that away.

it will be all government. should haven , but for onlyher one reason -- she didn't give the rest of the story on biden on the bussing. why he did not want the bus was because he was afraid his kids would grow up in a segregated jungle. that is kamala harris and joe biden. host: and that is ruth in illinois. when it comes to gun control measures, the new york times story, taking a deep dive into senator harris' policy issues takes a look at gun control saying, ms. harris also has committed to using her executive an arrayput in place

of gun-control measures like mandatory background checks and more stringent galatians of gun manufacturers. she also promised to close a loophole that allows some domestic abusers to buy guns. the new york times story today a lookas kaplan taking at various policy issues. in plainfield, new jersey. a democrat. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. i think it is laughable that this president would call anybody nasty. for the last four years all this man has done is called names. clipnstance, you play the in which he referred to the senator of massachusetts, senator elizabeth warren, not pocahontas. years: --he last four all he does is call people names. which has the

hint of anti-semitism. he called our nominee for the president. for him to be: out somebody for being nasty is like having a sumo wrestler call you overweight. secondly, i hear people talking about the radical left is taking over the democratic party. this month marks three years since this president looked at a bunch of neo-nazis marching ,hrough charlotte virginia referring to them is very fine people. if not caesar considered fine people, it stands to reason that nazis have taken over the republican party. let me say this in closing. you had a collar on from georgia talking about how kamala harris was responsible for having more black people put in jail than anybody else. i think for a right wing collar talking about somebody else putting black people in jail, that too. i think that is laughable.

thank you for giving me my time to speak, sir. you have a good day. avenuehis is eric columbus, georgia. republican. good morning. caller: hi, sir. i have so much to say. i'm a black man. i wasn't into any party at all. what made me go to the republican party was how i was seeing the condition of how the world was going. the united states was turning under barack obama. i was never actually a democrat. i always thought the best man should win. saying that our president now is a racist, and he was, that is what they are saying. they are also saying joe biden is a racist, that he was, and that he is making up for it by getting a black woman. the president we have now is also doing things to make up for his past. he is doing it in more than three years. pickint is, if you have to

, and they are saying, black man, people died for you to vote. ok, going to vote. but i'm going to vote for the lesser of the two evils. the lesser of the two racists. these are my choices. they forced that black woman on that man because she is stronger than that and, and she is going to be running the country. that is how that is. this is all politics and again and we need a man with a strong hand to take back our united states. i look forward to him making america great again. i'm a black man and i'm telling you this. i know i'm going to get a lot of feedback because a lot of us black people do not want to take responsibility for our actions. he is doing the right thing and i hope he gives them none of the money they're asking for to build back there burned down cities. host: eric mentions former president obama, former president obama weighing in on twitter about the harris

selection. this is what he said in part. "i've known senator harris for a long time. she is more than prepared for the job. her life story is one that i and so many others can see ourselves in. a story that says, no matter where you come from, what you look like, how you worship, how you love, there is a place for you here. it is a fundamentally american perspective. it is a perspective we can all rally behind now. to say, michelle and i could not be more thrilled. go when this thing.: " and thankod morning you very much. kamala like to say that harris is a good pick because joe biden is going to need some prosecutorial advice to clean up

of the last four years. with, well,nfected i won't say that. but in regards to your last guest, mr. coleman, i would like to remind americans that there are 2 million people wishing in jail, which by the way, state and local. i mean federal and state, which are covert hotspots, by the way. that were coerced into the same that flynna-bargain was. just by the sheer fact that he has been singled out isn't favoritism. right? it's obvious. host: we had that flynn discussion in our 8:00 a.m. our. we are back to the discussion

about the pick of senator harris to join the democratic ticket. a lot of callers want to talk about that topic, including nelson in colorado springs. it democrat. go ahead. caller: good morning. this is me personally. isst of all, senator harris an american first. then she is a woman. and then she is a person of caller. of color. host: nelson, i lost you for second there. go ahead. caller: i think the republican party is scared of what she thing.for and another as american people we are broken down into race. first of all, then a black

person in america, you are considered a black american, now they call you an african american. youare a native american, are a hispanic american, but no one says nothing about the white race. you have to come from somewhere. do, you come from europe. youron't you address heritage, just like yourself? you would say, you are a white man. where did your heritage come from? addresses the one white heritage. host: that is nelson in colorado. this is john out of california, republican. morning. caller: good morning. for taking my call. a lot to say. i think that what this points out is how weak joe biden is on

how he negotiates. first of all, he committed right up front months ago that he was going to pick a black woman. that just narrowed down his a very small people. he passed over a lot of good people to get there. justlegraphed it and it is something that is a weak point in joe biden. as far as kamala harris, i think california, i wouldn't trust anybody in government from california, to tell you the truth. all of the people that hate trump and are going to vote for anybody besides trump, that is a big mistake because what you are going to get is a lot of, you are going to get your guns taken away, you're going to get higher taxes, you were going to get

inflation, you are going to get a lot of stuff you don't want. think about it. even though trump is kind of a tough guy, he handles money. and he is good with the economy. and you can say a lot of things about him, but the democrats don't handle money well and they are going to give it away. and kamala harris is just going to take your tax money and increase your taxes, take your guns away, take your civil liberties away. the guy from new jersey -- i would like to say one more thing if i could, that i am a white guy. i am 72. i grew up in l.a. in the 1965 watts riots i was down there. i worked in l.a. do?: what did you caller: i was a sales rep for a huge lumber company. hill.d was at 35th and

i would go into factories, this ,as in the 80's, and down there south central, and i would go in and it would be filled with illegal immigrants. taking the locals' jobs. he would be filled. -- it would be filled. and leftd work less into a house and they just made the whole community lower. host: john out of california. john started talking about senator harris' credentials. this is how the washington post puts it. calling her a running mate ready to lead. she has been elected statewide three times in the nation's most populous state. as attorney general, running what amounts to a parallel justice department, she earned respect for her administrative skill. as a senator she gained , and as a experience

presidential candidate she faced the pressures of the campaign trail and debate stage. it is a plus for the nation that the qualified person by then settled on is also a woman and a woman of caller. -- of color. a presidenteplace who is celebrated incompetence, mr. biden needed to choose a running mate respect public service and has served well. in senator harris he has found such a partner. the editorial board of the washington post today. , missouri.etersburg caller: thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to comment and say ist i think kamala harris the vice president for the democratic party was a horrible choice. i'm not a huge trump fan and i got very disappointed when they

chose joe biden as the democratic presidential candidate. it is apparent that joe biden, he has some mental deficiencies. not really as sharp as he once was. with him, staying in his basement and not taking questions by the media other media, i find that very concerning. host: do think the dynamics of the race fundamentally changed as today with this pick? caller: for me it did. i think that by choosing kamala harris, i think that it is just going to pull the democratic ,arty further left, which is which i don't think is a good thing at all. her policies that she has, she wants to give illegal immigrants

health care? use our taxpayer dollars to pay for that? gun control that she wants to do? i just think it was an absolutely horrible choice to pick her. now, who would be a better choice? you know, i will be honest with you, i'm really not sure who would be a better choice. i'm just very, very disappointed in his pick. to be quite honest, i really don't think that he even picked her. i think it was pretty much to himto him -- told that he would be picking ever -- her as his running mate. host: by who? caller: by the democratic party. the dnc, the democratic national

committee. i think that they pretty much picked her for him. host: got your point. this is janet out of north carolina, a democrat. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for allowing me to speak. woman,proud, as a black as a matter of fact, as a biracial black woman, i am proud to have, -- have kamala harris as joe biden's running mate. i will tell you the truth. this has been the scariest years of my life with trump in office. he is ignorant, arrogant, just stupid. i don't even think the man has the money he claims he has. i have never seen a rich man acted so ignorant. yet people are giving him credit? for what?

destroying the country? because people are dying and he is up there talking about the stock market. not how many people have died, not about a cure for covid. i mean, he is talking about money. money can't do you any good if you are dead. so yes, i am grateful. i hope that if there is a god he has a part in this. thank you very much. host: before you go, can i read a little bit of the piece in today's new york times to you and get your reaction? this is what she writes, "the significance of this decision and weaning for black women cannot be overstated. like women's commitment to the party has often gone unacknowledged, that they have been tirelessly loyal to the democratic party for generations. now comes the unanswerable question. does the selection of harris simply symbolic, a token

gesture, or does it truly recognizes the importance of black women for democrats?" do you think the answer is? caller: let me tell you this. do you remember when trump stood over hillary clinton's back and deliberately tried to terrify her? i dare him to stand over kamala harris' back and say one word out of the way to her. she would give him what he needs. awful. he is god he is just awful. i believe -- you know what? scamieve that little yesterday where whoever got shot, i don't doubt if he did not set that up. missouri, anin independent. good morning. caller: good morning, john. i'm kind of disappointed with this pick. because i believe that kamala harris and cory booker, during

their campaigns, both proved to be prejudiced themselves. i hate what is in the white house today. it is a terrible thing for our country. the man has no morals, no ethics, and he is a racist, but joe big day racist to replace a racist. i don't like that one bit. you know, like the other caller -- it waslieve he was forced on him by the democratic party. we saw what happened to john mccain when they forced that goofy woman on him. host: was it -- what is an example of the prejudice she demonstrated on the campaign trail? caller: just, you know, and she brought up bussing with joe. everything out of her mouth was to help the black people. she didn't care about the white people one bit.

example, i can't really give you one. i heard plenty of them in the debates. they said, trump is the death of this nation. i guess now i will just vote the down ballot and not vote for president. i hate that, and again, the democratic party has screwed america. thanks for listening. host: bob, how often has a vice presidential pick up in the turning point for you on a presidential candidate? has it happened before? bob, you are going in and out there. we will go on to mary lou in new jersey. republican. good morning. caller: good morning, john. thank you for c-span. i want to make two comments.

the first one regarding kamala harris, that i think when over a lot of people's heads. there was a remark made that kamala harris had dealings with joe biden's other sun -- other son.i would want to know what that involved in my question would be, is that why she was picked? because she knows certain things that they know she knows and they don't want it to come out. host: we did you read that? caller: that was on fox. they said it last night. they said she had dealings early in her career involving banking and some other areas with his e that she wasa a close friend of the biden family. u. we know about burisma, i would certainly want that investigated thoroughly. the other thing i want to say is -- and this is to the people who are thinking of voting

democratic. i'm not a democrat. i would not be a democrat, but i personally feel very badly for joe biden and what this party is doing to him. they are using him as a magnet to draw in moderate democrats. i'm telling you right now, that man is not going to be in the presidential position. he's either going to leave voluntarily because he is going to come to realize he cannot make it physically and mentally, or they are going to push him out, pusher up to the presidency, and the vp will be someone even more radical. when democrats think of voting democrat, remember joe biden is not going to be in the picture. it is going to be kamala harris, you know very little about, and somebody else they are going to bring in at the last minute. how old is too old to run for president?

don't necessarily go by age, john. i go by physical and mental acuity. host: mary lou in the new jersey. this is steve in minnesota, democrat. what did you think of the pack? caller: good morning. all want to say is, a breath of fresh air that we got more diversity coming in the government. rising stars is a and she probably will be president at some point. she has paid her dues. she has done everything she's got to do. are,f these people that that's all i got to say. host: andrea, denver, independent. morning. caller: thank you very much for taking my call. i think that his pick of come all of us not one of the best choices he could have made. one being, like people have to deal with the judicial system as

well as the police system. if she wants to do anything to reform, she should also reform the judicial system itself. i also want to put up there that i think we need to stop talking about democrat and republican, because what this came down to is wealth. rich people are running our country. they are turning white people and black people, who are everyday people, against each other. if you remember in the were in the debates, biden wasn't even up there. they got him out of the way like they did hillary. the same with kabbalah. she was out of the running, allowedmoney i'll -- biden and kemal are to be up there. the wealthy are running this country to stay wealthy and keep us as pawns on the board of chaz.

i think it was not the best what we have to do is start voting locally and put everyday people in washington. that is a bubble, and they all live in the bubble. we need people who understand everyday issues that are starting to run this country and really care. host: is there one person in washington you think is the kind of person? caller: this is the sad part about it, no. is, onceington does you get into washington, you have to start playing the game. for whatever reason, you don't ever get to come into everyday people. i'm not confident with washington at all. host: can you trust anybody that goes to washington, even if they are a everyday person on the campaign trail? caller: i believe you can. not that i agree with those young ladies who, i think the

one woman, omar or something, but that shows is that the one up there. in my opinion the way they went up there was a little too aggressive. i believe that we start running our country locally first, then if we stop letting people sit in office for 20 years, i think we will start seeing country where we can build the country for our children and our children's children. right now what we are doing, we are building a country for the wealthy and the rest of us are struggling with coronavirus because we don't have health care. there is just some basic humanity that needs to take place with everyday people. the wealth this country has divided the sun, it must stop. -- divided us on, it must stop. host: less than five minutes left. did want to acknowledge the folks who continue to weigh in on facebook and twitter.

here are a few of their comments. greg and, kentucky rights, pens, cheney, quayle, agnew. the republicans have no standing to question the vp pick. this is stephen saying, there is nothing wrong with a black woman as long as they are sure they are not being used as a pawn in a game of political chess. this is what should disturb people of caller. -- people of color. this from daniel saying, this hilarious people are so critical of kamala harris' past, but can overlook trump's past. time for a couple more calls. ryan in the pittsburgh, republican. you are next. caller: good morning. how are you? i think amol harris, unfortunately -- i used to be a democrat for 20 years. trump was the first time i voted republican.

it is because the democratic party has turned into a party of optics. i think that's all they do anymore. kamala harris is another example of this. of thought or diversity of past, that it is ray's politics now. i don't like that. i think it is divisive and it hurts the country. i think he was pigeonholed into this decision. he needed to pick a woman, and asked to be a woman of caller. here is someone that for 10 years opposed legal -- marijuana legalization in california. when she becomes a presidential candidate, now she comes out for. i don't think she has a strong reputation of integrity. i think she was just a token, just offensive. i don't see it going well for the democrats. ryan in the pennsylvania. tom out of new york, line for democrats. what did you think of the pick? harris.i like kamala

she was a great pic, because it is about time we have a woman. colo hasr anything to do with it. she has a reputation as a strong woman. she has done a lot for california. she has the experience to do it. one of your other collars just brought up how could donald trump us with his money. the man filed bankruptcy how many times? that just speaks for itself. then all of the insults he gives to the news media. i can hear you. host: go ahead, we are listening to you. caller: i just think that the harris.was about kamala it should not be about race. it should be the fact she is a woman. both things in this country have been bad. when they got treated bad, like

people got treated bad. everybody recognizes that. instead of calling it a black-white thing, call it a man-woman thing and let the reputation speak for themselves. caller.r last we will be back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 a.m. pacific. in the meantime, have a great wednesday. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] ♪ c-span has unfettered

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