which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] following the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak at c-span.org/coronavirus. watch congress, white house briefings, an update from governors. track the spread of the virus throughout the u.s. and the world with interactive maps. watch on demand any time, unfiltered, at c-span.org/coronavirus. and joining us here in washington is liz harrington cured she is the national spokesperson for the republican national committee to be convention getting underway this week in charlotte, north carolina, and virtually, so walk us through, right now, what will happen each evening. guest: well, good morning, steve. thank you for having me. we are really excited. we are kicking off four days of what i think will be a big contest. laste, if they tuned in week to the really down and out, dreary, negative, divisive

message of the democrats, we are going to offer an optimistic vision, and inspiring story of not only what americans have , and what thisng administration has done, but looking back in our history, what we can learn from it, the inspiring story of what makes this country so great. and we are also going to be looking forward to what president trump can accomplish in a second term. and so it is a unifying message. it is one that sets this country apart, throughout human history, and it is really one that president trump has followed through on, when you look at the amazing accomplishments he has been able to do in such a short amount of time in washington, which is quite the contrast. joe biden had one of the shortest speeches in modern history for accepting a nomination, and it is because he has been in law for a very long time, but he does not have very many accomplishments to his name. president trump has so many to

speak to. we will also hear from real americans who have benefited from these politics, from his agenda. we are really excited to showcase that, what makes this country great and what separates us. and we are excited to tell the story. host: fewer politicians, more voices of real americans. walk us through that approach for the convention, and then, operationally, how it is going to work. guest: absolutely. so we are going to have daytime programming, much like the democrats did, but hours were not feature, you know, calls for the destruction of capitalism or abolishment of the police, like the democrats did. [laughs] we will have an uplifting message that really showcases what our agenda is for the country, that we are proud of america. but the nighttime programming, in contrast to what the democrats had, the vast majority of it will be live speeches, and it is going to be engaging. it is not going to be talking at the american people, it is going to be talking with americans.

we are going to have in-person events. we are going to do a safely. but we will do it more engaging and i think more including the american people in our convention. so we are going to feature, of course, the many diverse members of our party, the different viewpoints, members of congress, rising leaders and stars and who just really articulate our agenda so well. but we are also going to talk with and hear from the real lived andwho have benefited from president trump and his policies and practices. so we think it is going to be quite contracts, and we are really excited to showcase the best about america. this country has never been perfect, but it has been the unique thing that offered our rights come from god, not government, and government's job is to protect us. too often and increasingly, we

are seeing democrats -- mayors and governors -- really turn no, on its head and say, you are going to serve us. we are going to tell you if you can go to church, if you can go to school, if you can go to work. and then they turned the justice system on its head as well and let rioters go free and then criminalize the law-abiding citizen. that is an upside down country. that is not what america is about. so we have to make it clear to showcase what our policies are in action -- progrowth, pro-freedom, profamily -- and then contrast to what democrats have done in these cities. you know, it is very interesting, because president trump, and throughout our week, we are going to be able to showcase our agenda in action, the tax credits, opportunity zones, building the wall, the judges throughout the federal judiciary, defeating isis, so many of these big -- the usmca that president trump has

delivered on, how they are benefiting the country. democrats did not mention their agenda in action, which we can all see, if we go to look for it on the local news, for what is happening in minneapolis, in portland, in seattle, in new york city, in san francisco. even places that -- this is the handiwork of the democrats' agenda. this is the agenda that joe biden has adapted, with bernie sanders writing the platform. we think it is a very dangerous agenda. it is very and difficult to what this country has always been about, which is freedom of opportunity, equal justice under the law, not based on what letter comes after your name, what political views you hold. so we need to contrast that but also showcase our vision, which is a forward-looking one and really a history-making one. this president has made so much history in such a short amount of time on so many fronts, whether it is usmca, taking out

soleimani, the peace deal with uae and israel, space force. there are so many things that i think we can look forward to, and we are going to highlight that. it is going to be engaging, and it is going to be live, and it is going to be more real and authentic. host: let me follow up with a couple of points, because, as you know, the democrats did include the three former living democratic presidents. on the republican side, george w. bush is not included in this week's convention. why? guest: well, i am not privy to those conversations, but i didn't hear that former president bush has decided not to get involved. he did not get involved in 2016 as well. a unified you we are party. the media likes to amplify some, you know, figures in washington. we have all ended up with contrasts on cnn and msnbc, but they do not look at the rest of the country, and really the voters who have come together and drawn in president trump's

winning agenda. so we are a unified party going into this. it is a former president's personal choice whether to get involved or not. host: the president keeps saying that there is fraud in mail-in voting. i want to know, specific become aware is the fraud? if you request an absentee ballot, as the president does, or states provide a ballot that is cross checked by state and local officials? guest: it is a very important the station when you talk about the absentee process. democrats say, this has been around forever, tried-and-true, what are you talking about? then why are they in court, trying to change this? why are they inventing a new system, that you do not have to request a valid, you just have to fill one out, and the cases of real fraud -- look at paterson, new jersey. indicted,e were including a councilman elect, including a councilman. every single one of them were charged with unauthorized

possession of ballots, meaning that they were in their possession, holding ballots from voters that it was not them. well, you know what democrats want to do? they want to make that legal. that is called ballot harvesting. it is what they had in california. it is what, in the dead of not, , the legislature, they went forward without letting anybody read their bill. anybody, campaign operatives, can collect as many ballads that they want with no oversight, drop them off, and then they are even allowing them to be counted after election day. -- obviously opens the door for more fraud, and they are making what happened in paterson, new jersey legal, which come americans, we have seen the numbers in polling, it is not close. eight out of 10 americans oppose ballot harvesting, because of course that is not a system that you would have confidence and,

just allowing anybody, not elections officials, to be in control of elections. so that is what we are really fighting against, and democrats and the far left activist groups, democrat lawyers, led by mark elias, he is the man who is , andry clinton's lawyer hired people to make up smears about president trump. singlee is in every battleground state, trying to not uphold the system, but trying to change the system to allow valid harvesting where it is illegal, and it is illegal in many states. fighting.at we are we believe the absentee process works. states have had years to perfect it appeared you have to . you have to prove there is someone behind that ballot.

who have movedle away, people who have since died, and they are just blindly sending them out. and then you add ballot harvesting on top of that and you add reducing requirements for signature verification, which they are also fighting, and allowing them to be counted after election day -- there is a lot of room for munich -- they say, listen to the experts. dr. fauci said there is no reason why we cannot vote in person. we know voting in person is tried, tested and true. it is the most secure. nobody knows how you voted, no one can try to pressure you in any way. it is secure. yous counted immediately, know your vote counted, otherwise you don't know what happened between point and -- point a and point b.

they had this in fact in's, they had ppe. absentee voting does not protect you from not getting the coronavirus. in wisconsin, there were more people with cases who voted absentee than in person. the idea that we need to completely overhaul our elections, throw the system, mail-in ballots, everyone gets one in the are just piling up and apartment complexes like we saw in clark county, nevada, that is not the way a first world nation should conduct its elections. we want timely results, and more portly, we want to make sure the results are fair. i know this is a long-winded answer. in detroit, they reported 72% of their precincts, their vote tallies did not match with all of these influxes of absentee ballots part how will people

have confidence in new york city, where they declared a winner six weeks later. that is not a way to conduct elections print at a time of division in our country, we want to make sure everyone's vote is counted and we want to make sure the result is accurate. host: the convention gets underway tomorrow morning. this headline from the charlotte observer, last-minute preparations for those who will be in attendance in north carolina and the president will speak tomorrow to the gathering. we will have all of it here on c-span. let's get your phone calls. victoria, texas. are you with us? i am.: yes, sir, host: go ahead, please. lady, --his young knows enough to defend the

republican party. i am sorry. number one, i did vote for mr. trump. can you hear me? host: we sure can. go ahead with your question. caller: i did vote for mr. trump. it,rward, i regretted -- hee of the beginning, has made a lot of mistakes. -- nothing happened to them. texas, we are dying every day, you don't have to shoot anybody. he has not done anything. we know that. host: thank you for the call. here is a supporter of the president four years ago, not they share. guest: i appreciate the question, i had a hard time

hearing all of her comments. i would say part of it was about the coronavirus. this is an opportunity this week for us to set the record straight. the media has not given the president a fair shake in this at all. we know this is a unique situation that happened, and we know who is to blame -- a communist regime in china that lied to the world, they covered it up, they are still hiding critical information about patient zero and how this got out. they shut down travel within their country, but were encouraging travel out. they were encouraging and new tourism exchange with italy, which became the epicenter of the virus in europe. despite what communist china did to not just us, it affected the entire globe, this president, when everyone said you can't shut down travel, when joe biden

was saying that was hysterical, he did it and it was the right decision. it saved countless lives. he did not stop there. biggeste working on the mobilization of the private sector since world war ii. joe biden and kamala harris see doctors, we see american greatness. the people on the front lines, the factory workers and manufacturers who overnight stopped making -- whether it was their-- they stop making products and switched over to ppe. much, operation warp speed, the fastest development of a vaccine in history. this president organized a task force in january, they have never stopped working. decisions, this

is a novel virus we had to learn a lot of information about. every single day, president trump has been committed to helping the american people. all americans -- he set the uss mercy to new york and california. hotspots when they needed it. unfortunately, governor cuomo, who sings a very different to now, he praised the assistance from the president. patientst send any into the uss comfort, he sent them into nursing homes. there is a record here and the american people will recognize president trump has led on this from the beginning. he has done the best job that absolutely we could do and we are constantly learning about this virus. we are americans -- we can defeat it. shutting down is not a solution.

hiding in your basement might work for joe biden for the time being, it does not work for americans who have to feed their family and have to go back to work -- have to go back to school. it is unfortunate that every step of the way, since about february 25, the day after nancy pelosi said come to chinatown, we think it is safe, everyone should come, when the democrats start to recognize maybe we can use this virus born out of a, used regime as cover-up, maybe we can use it as political ends, they have politicized everything. aidy pelosi has blocked three times. blocked small business relief. pelosi flew back in from san francisco and try to stalled theations, cares act for weeks.

without 50 million jobs paycheck protection program. americans, we can come together, we can defeat this virus and i think there are a lot of positive things to show in this response and brave, heroic americans and the work they have done. line, lizpendent harrington, good morning. am somebody who is here by choice. legally. found such a great country and i fell in love with this country. after that, i finished my education here. i continued my education and europe. beautiful country, but not a

great country like this one. we, facing a situation that bluee -- whether they are or red. usa of americahe is still dealing with some problems. the greatest country in the world. where is home for you originally? caller: i am originally from nicaragua. i did not come here as a refugee. i got mike green card when i card whengot my green i came for my education. host: we will limit their get a response from liz harrington. guest: i love to hear that because it is so true. this country, it is only

possible here, people come here, and they work so hard to come here legally and do it the right way for the american dream, because they know what it is like everywhere else in the world -- it is not this beacon of freedom and hope, that is what america has started it is dangerous to see the democratic party embracing these radical ideologies that are so anti-freedom. they are so down on this country. they want to rip it up and start over. you hear it from biden and the rest of the leaders from their party, they say it is a chance to fundamentally transform this country. this country does not need to be fundamentally transformed. it is a beacon of hope and opportunity for the world. we have to defend our freedoms here. it is the only place that stories like that are possible. that is all we want. the opportunity to go out and

live the american dream, one standard of justice for everyone. unfortunately, it is not being written into the democratic platform, it is playing out in their states, it is playing out in their cities. they are punishing law-abiding citizens for going to church, opening up a salon. they are letting criminals out, they are not even prosecuting rioters. they have two standards of justice because they think they have these protesters in the street who have dissented into riots for 80 days in portland, they think they have a politically correct view. we need to not look at what your policy is, we have one standard of justice in this country and it needs to be applied equally and that is what this country has always been about -- equality of opportunity. giving americans freedom. that is what this second term

agenda is about. school choice. it is not just about getting kids back in school in the fall during a pandemic, it is about getting kids in the school of their choice, letting the parents decide. democrats are so beholden to the teachers union, they block kids fromor neighborhoods getting a better education. they canceled the d.c. voucher program, were 80% of the students are minority students with a median household income of $26,000. he wants to take away their education on day 1, that is what barack obama did, as well. they canceled their choice. they want to cancel american ,istory, cancel your tax cuts cancel your opportunities to succeed. we have to reject that because it is so important. there will not be more stories

like the one we just heard, where you can come to this country, do it legally, work hard and live the american dream. that will be gone if we enact this radical democrat agenda. host: liz harrington, your reaction to what the president said this week about senator kamala harris, calling her nasty and angry. is that appropriate? caller: president -- guest: president trump calls it like he sees it. it is interesting to see someone like kamala harris who said last week, there is no vaccine for racism. i wonder if she thinks joe biden can be cured, because it was her who called him a racist during the democratic debate, that is a divisive message. what are you saying? you are basically saying this country is irredeemable and deplorable. that is a divisive message. it is not a unifying one.

president trump seen her comments and it is very telling -- she either does not believe that joe biden is a racist and has acted inappropriately toward women -- that is what she said when she was running against him in the primary and had to drop out before christmas -- but now she is singing a very different tune. she either did not believe it and will say anything she can for power, or she does believe it and just does not care for power. president trump calls it like he sees it. i watched the speeches last week, they were not uplifting, they were divisive. it was not embracing what is great about this country, it was this country is irredeemable and deplorable. we are not that. we are not what democrats say this country is pretty this country has come so far.

we are a tolerant society. the only people who are not tolerant are democrats of opposing views. they do not want unity, they want uniformity. host: let me jump in because i what your -- want your response to what senator harris said about what the president said about her. [video clip] >> president trump has referred to you as a nasty woman, the most disrespectful of anyone in the u.s. senate. how do you decide what you hear from the president? >> i think there is so much about what comes out of donald trump's mouth that is designed to distract the american people from what he is doing every day, neglect, negligence and harm to the american people. >> and incompetence. >> absolutely. >> the idea he would say

something like that -- no president, no president has ever said anything like that. no president has you those words. no president has had people coming up with torches and spew bile. and then say there are good people on both sides. no president has ever said anything like that, ever. host: that is an abc news interview that airs tonight. your comment? guest: that is a lie. president trump said i condemn those people, totally, neo-nazis. they have been running on this lie. it is very telling the joe biden, his first failed run to the presidency in 1987, that was based on a lie -- he had to steal the life story of a labour party politician. he is basing what will be his

third failed run for the presidency on another lie -- this hoax about fine people on both sides, he condemned that, totally. secondly, it is very nasty, i would say, to personally blame your political opponent for the deaths of americans from a virus or it was caused and created by lies and a cover-up from a common just regime. it is very nasty to personally blame your political opponent and use american lives as a number to yield against your opponent. i think it is repulsive. it was not very nice to use american lives as the number and could not be bothered to update the number from martha's vineyard, where michelle obama taped her speech. kamala harris has used her power to go after her political opponents.

you know what has never been done before? what has never been done is using an insane conspiracy theory and lie about a supreme from michael avenatti. we would never read into the record the accusations from michael avenatti's client. that's what they did to justice brett kavanaugh. they did not care about the collateral damage to his family and what they put the country through. they did not care about what they put the country through with their other big hoax -- russia collusion. it is not joe biden, we know joe biden -- he is a transition candidate. successor ins a kamala harris, because just like obama and biden targeted tea party groups with irs, kamala harris targeted tea party in

california. she wanted their personal information to harass them while she was attorney general of california, just like obama and biden sent federal agents into president trump's campaign -- into his campaign. kamala harris sent federal agents into the house of a pro-life agent because he had exposed wrongdoings by one of her campaign donors -- planned parenthood. that is very nasty and troubling. what we need to vote in favor for of president trump is what we are getting, one standard of justice for everyone. one standard. not wielding your power to go after your opponents. we have seen obama and biden tua, we saw kamala harris do it in california. that is a very dangerous -- it

goes back to the ideology we talked about. that is what third world countries do. they see federal law enforcement as just another tool to go after and harass opponents. meanwhile, the law-abiding citizens suffer. look at the crime rate in new york city where they have no cash bail. law-abiding citizens are suffering and what is the attorney general doing? wasting our time, harassing the president, going after tax returns. let's establish justice. you know what the second sentence is after that in the constitution? establish justice. are democrats establishing justice in the places they run top to bottom? minneapolis, seattle, portland, chicago? they are not establishing

justice. president trump will. he is the law and order president. geo: we are talking politics. we have liz harrington. next call from boston, good morning. in 2016, trump -- campaign contributions. businessdelson's tax swingillions in a fall courtesy of trump's tax cuts. shortly thereafter, the organization this woman represents -- republican national committee -- received $50 million in campaign contributions. you don't have to be sherlock holmes to realize how corrupt and compromised these people are.

dayt from that, have a nice and keep up with the filibustering. liz harrington, would you like to respond? guest: sure. the tax cuts have benefited every american. they brought the best economic boom we have seen in history. you talk about the tax cuts and the regulation cuts, they made america an attractive place for business again. that is what president trump was able to do in such a quick turnaround and why we have a v shaped turnaround. the fundamentals are so strong of getting government out of the way. barack obama and joe biden could not do that. they rewrote history, try to take credit for president trump's economy, they could never do that. listening to their interviews in 2011 and 2012, they said getting used to the new normal -- high

unemployment, no growth, manufacturing jobs. he said they were not coming back. president trump proved all of that wrong. it is the progrowth policies that benefit everyone, and that is what the president is about. host: we will go to florida, bill, good morning. caller: good morning. the independent line. i am a lifelong libertarian but i voted for mr. trump and i will vote for him again. called to encourage mr. trump to have a broad vision of the future, particularly domestically. i hope a couple of things -- i hope he will speak to what his vision of health care going

forward should be, in terms of either health savings accounts, ofope he has a broad vision moving education from washington back to the local level. host: i will leave it there because we are short on time. guest: there are a few issues, we will be speaking about them this week. care isency in health already bringing down costs, president trump is made historic moves on this that have not gotten a lot of coverage but it will continue to be a top priority. in school choice -- leveling out the playing field, giving everyone the same chance to go to a better school. that is a huge issue and a republican issue. host: liz harrington, i know use of the headline this morning from the washington post, based on some recordings from the neice,nt's nice, --

president trump has no principles, you can't trust them. how do you respond to that from the older sister of the president? guest: this president absolutely has principles. that is why he ran in the first place -- he loves the country. we heard so much about empathy last week. there was all this about empathy. the media and democrats want to pretend the republicans don't have any empathy. if donald trump did not have empathy, he would have stayed in trump tower. he would have never done what he is doing. he would not have given up his great life, his pretty good news coverage, his status. it is amazing what they have put his family through, this country through, just because he decided -- he has been talking about it for decades -- just go back and watch them during interviews talking about china, trade, so

many of these big issues that really drove him to seek the presidency. he did not like what he was seeing. he loves this country and has empathy for the american worker to say we have to get back to what made this country great. that is why he ran in 2016, that is what he delivers every single day for this country. he cares deeply for the country and wants more people to succeed . he has been so blessed, living in the greatest country on earth, he wants everyone to be able to join in on that and that is what our message really is, that is what america has always been about, it is what we will continue to be about as long as we do not throw out the ideals by going with the democrats. host: these claims are coming from his his own sister and his niece, they question the president's own character. guest: i have not seen the

recent comments. the idea that families cannot have disagreements, i think every family listening right now knows they have disagreements about politics. what unifies us as americans is we love our country and we want a better future for every american. that is what president trump follows through with every single day. that is what he will keep delivering. we will see that throughout our convention every single day. we will showcase what is great about our country. the land of legends, what is going forward in the future. what we can do upholding that freedom and opportunity for more prosperity and peace for everyone. that is what we want and our messages. it is a unifying one. host: philadelphia, republican line with liz harrington. good morning. caller: good morning. you are very well spoken, i am

impressed. i am going to vote for donald trump again because this man has no idea what it was like to be in politics and he got through to me, my daughter, my friends, but we do have to hide the fact we are voting for donald trump -- you know that. we can't go out in public and say -- like the guy said before, we have to hide the fact. true, the fact he is a real person with faults like me. he came through for us. you can see he is real. joe biden does not look real to me. it looks like he had a facelift or something, i don't know. donald trump is so real and i believe in him and i like the way he acts -- he acts real. i am going to vote for him again.

host: thank you for the call. we will get a response from liz harrington. guest: absolutely, i appreciate your comments. president trump is real and what democrats always discount -- the american people are a lot more smart than they give us credit for. we see through them. swampeek, how many dwellers did they have to put back up there with the same empty promises, the same rhetoric? we can remember -- the rhetoric never matched the reality. they can try to rewrite history, but we can see that. joe biden practically gave the same speech he gave in 2008. you would have thought they were never in power for two terms. they did not follow through and they did not get results for americans. president trump has been consistent, he has delivered.

maybe it was because he was never a politician, he came to washington on a very specific set of things he was going to do and he did them, and it is working. americans have benefited -- no pandemic from communist china can take away any of that. it will not stop us. we have seen the super v shaped recovery. more winning for americans, whether or not you voted for him in 2016. for the people who took a chance on president trump in 2016, they see this man is the real deal, he follows through and he fights for the country. we have seen all of the empty promises from these swamp creatures -- it has worked out well for them, they have benefited, for the country has not benefited, and president trump came to washington to change that. host: the convention is in charlotte, but you are here in

washington, d.c., is that right? guest: yes. we have some people in charlotte, it is scaled down, 36 delegates, we have staff members there. rollcall,ve a live many of us will be in d.c., we will be manning the virtual content during the day. we will have cameras at the office to do interviews and keep people up to speed of every single day of the events. culminating thursday night in the president's speech from the white house. it will be really spectacular. it will be a historic speech, much like we saw at the state of the union and in front of mount rushmore earlier this year. the president will give a historic speech, it will be unifying. host: it will be live on c-span.

liz harrington here in washington with the republican announcer: c-span's washing all -- washington journal. coming up this morning, we will talk about the day and week ahead for the republican national convention with the hills reporter. campaign 2020 and african-american voters with the advisory board member for black voices for trump. "washington journal" this morning. and be sure to join the conversation with your calls, facebook comments, text, and. -- texts, and tweets. and