a reminder, tonight at 8:00 eastern, president-elect be speaking about the electoral college vote. we will follow that with an "a guide toe book the electoral college." we will talk to eastern -- we will talk to him and hear from you tonight at 8:00 eastern. you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. greeted by america's cable television companies as a public service and brought to you by your television provider. facebook.com/c-span. startn go ahead and calling in now. ofmped to face his moment

truth. all eyes are waiting the electoral college meeting. capitalsening in state around the country. you to several state capitals around the country so you can watch the proceedings live. here's where we will be taking eastern.:00 a.m. at noon to pennsylvania. 2:00 p.m. eastern to michigan. 3:00 p.m. to texas today. as that's happening today, we are asking you this morning if you think it's time to abolish the electoral college. today's lead editorial in today's new york times. the headline on that lead editorial, why getting the most votes matter.

enough toe we are old count, we are taught that the biggest number beats the smaller number. it is the essence of fairness. everyone is a fan of majority rule until they realize they can win without it. republicans have been gifted the white house while losing the popular vote. that theurprise commitment of republicans to majority rule along with other democratic norms has plummeted. the editorial board writing that joe biden will be the next president because he won the electoral college but he should really have the job because he won the most votes. are asking you this morning what you think about it. want to hear your thoughts. on phone lines split up as usual.

tyrone is on the line for democrats. they should have been abolished the electoral college mainly because it's a vestige of slavery and has always been put in to make sure that rich white men remain rich white men. constitution was -- by rich white men. a system they put in that would disadvantage them? there should be a constitutional amendment at least every 50 years to update it to the times of today. most americans couldn't vote. women, poor white men. host: if the electoral college is one thing you would like to see changed, what else do you want to see change?

what else are the vestiges of that system? you still with us? we will go to sue out of massachusetts. an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i think that our whole electoral system in this country needs to be changed. i think the fact that you have a national office, president, being voted on a gazillion different ways depending on what state you are in is ridiculous. that's what has caused our problems right now. i think we need to have a national election system. that's just the start of it. concept of thee college and the fact that you pretty much have

large cities electing your president. but our whole system does not work. that's why we are in the mess we are in today. host: this is john out of shine a, texas. i believe the electoral college should not the abolished. they have seen history repeat itself. the democrats take control of the senate. it will become complete majority. they are going to run roughshod over us. they have no respect for the minority and it's going to destroy this country. it's a very sad day where we can no longer respect each other. if we destroy the electoral college, the country is gone. that's all i have to say.

host: here is a defense of the electoral college from a piece in the news. if conservatives, voters in smaller states and supporters of the constitution don't start to fight back to protect the electoral college, the nation could face a situation where the matterates that california and florida. the founders would have understood the concept. sure thatd to make the smaller states had a making ae shot difference. states like utah, montana and maine would become an afterthought in presidential college the electoral were abolished.

republicans (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. today's vote count will be 2021.ied for this week, congress has plenty of other work to do. on a look at the week ahead --itol hill, we join katrina christina marcos. explain where we are at this morning and what we might be seeing on the floor of the house or senate today and tomorrow. >> senators are working on a proposal for covid relief and planning to introduce the bill today. the first would contain widesions that have

bipartisan force. part which receive government funding and the liability shift from coronavirus related lawsuits. so they are planning to today.ce that bill later only speaker's mitch mcconnell are involved in these talks that they are likely to go anywhere. host: does that mean that more than $700 billion piece, is that likely to pass sooner than that smaller piece that contains the state and local provisions, the liability protections that have been more controversial over the past week or soon?

>> -- has been suggesting that lawmakers put aside those points because congress is running out of time. government funding runs out this friday and lawmakers have been hoping to use the government spending bills as a vehicle for coronavirus release -- relief. they're hoping to get that done as soon as possible this week because that train is leaving the station. it's possible they could move forward with the next controversial one. host: could that train be delayed? we saw congress push off that funding deadline. could they push that off again this friday on the clock ticks down on the latest continuing resolution?

>> it's certainly possible. coronavirus resolutions have been at an impasse. possible they will have to extend their deadline. last week they were extending it from the 11th to the 18th. now we inching closer to the holidays. that will give incentive to get the relief out. host: final question, what else is on congress to do list before they get out of town for the end of this congress? a bill also need to sign to fund the government. it's unclear if they will have agreements to keep agreements -- agreements to keep carrying , they are also

working on that and hoping to reach an agreement as soon as possible. we on the ndaa? the house and senate passed it with overwhelming majorities. it is something that normally law, butdesigned to president trump has been renaming military bases that currently are confederate leaders. to veto has promised that bill and if he does, it would send it back to congress which would then be a position to do a veto override. in the house, it passed with a bipartisan majority but republicans including kevin mccarthy have indicated that

even though republicans voted for the underlying bill, they will vote to sustain, to sign with president trump and prevent a veto override. tests yet another loyalty as president trump leaves office. host: christina marcos covering it all up the hill.com. appreciate your time this morning. college getsral set to meet in state capitals around the country asking about your opinions of the electoral college shouldn't even still be around. would you abolish it. that's our question this morning. peggy called in on that line for democrats. good morning. caller: hello?

host: i'm listening. go ahead. and then we get to the most recent ones. with fewerush won votes than al gore, and 6withent trump won 201

2.8 million fewer votes than hillary clinton. joe his next from the bronx. caller: how are you doing? host: i'm doing well. the are your thoughts on electoral college? toler: listen, if i have advise the democrats, number one thing i would tell them, look at the history of the electoral college. it is always in favor of democrats because of the states that they control. it is almost impossible for the 200blicans to even get electoral college. so the democrats always when the complex fromlege 99% of the time they also when the -- so i will not even think

of telling the democrats to try to abolish the electoral college. i don't know where they get that from. they should not even try that at all. the little things i want to put in their this morning besides what we are doing. host: we are going to stick into with the electoral college. is there anything else you wanted to add? caller: i just want to tell the biden people that joe biden, please take doug jones for the ag. this man is a nice man. i talked to the people, people love him from main street. please tell him just what i want to tell the biden. please take this man for the ag. host: that is joe out of the bronx. james is next out of walden, new york. republican. caller: good morning. i tape this show every morning

and i happened to get up early so now i'm listening to it live. i saw the question, should the electoral college be abolished. i'm a big fan of the electoral college. i believe in it. but then i realized, the electorial is based on population. with all these illegals coming in and raising our population, look at new york. our electorial numbers, i think it's like 40 or 30 something. so it doesn't matter if it's abolished or not. it's basically based on population. i'm an avid watcher of c-span, and every morning i said, i wonder if they are going to mention the topic of the biden crime family, but you guys haven't put that on yet. why is it? why is it when trump with the alleged russia russia russia, you have that on every morning. so why aren't you talking about , the biden crime family?

out of walden, new york. we've talked about hunter biden on this program. viewers have talked about it as well. it is likely something we will talk about again down the road. but this morning, as the electoral college is meeting around the country, we are asking you your thoughts on that system that we have in this country and whether you think it should be a polished. phone lines for republicans, democrats, independents as usual. atlantic, georgia, independent. you are on the air. caller: i do not believe the electoral college should be abolished. i find it kind of strange that usually the party that loses is always the one that wants it abolished and the ones that win have no problem with it. so i guess next time the democrats lose, they will want it abolished and the republicans will keep it around. i believe no president should

just be elected as someone who we like. just because you win the popular vote does not make you a perfect president. the electorical college is kind of used to even that out. you could be a popular president or unpopular and still win it enough to be a great president. without it, we are just voting for somebody we like. host: before you go, it was 20 years ago this past weekend that the bush v. gore decision came down. plenty of people after the 2000 election questioning the need for the electoral college. do you think this time around with joe biden set to receive 306 electoral votes today, do you think democrats today are a bit more inclined to the electoral college? caller: democrats now, there will be a few who will. but i guarantee you, there will

be over 90% who say to leave it alone and 90% republicans will say we've got to do something with it. like i said, the next time if biden should lose and the republicans should win, you watch and see. now all these republicans will call for it to be abolished, will be like, it's perfect the way it is, leave it alone. that's just the way it works, i guess, in politics. host: that's tim out of atlanta, georgia. this morning we will talk more about the history and structure of the electoral college in the 8:00 a.m. hour. we will be joined by jeffrey rosen, president and ceo of the national constitution center. some notes on the electoral college -- 538 electors will cast their votes today. a majority of 270 electoral votes is required. the district of columbia has three electors. the state's allotment of

electors the total number of congressional members in the congressional delegation, that is house plus senate. the district of columbia does not have senators. 48 states and d.c. use a winner-take-all system. maine and nebraska split electoral votes. we will dive a lot more into that system with jeffrey rosen coming up in about 40 minutes this morning. a simple question to our viewers, should the electoral college be abolished? mike, in new york, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. yes, i do believe it should be abolished. i think in the age of communications with the computer and every kind of social, i think education is there. everybody can be educated and well informed. i think it it lends easily to a popular vote.

so everybody should be educated enough to make their decision. and besides, at the risk of sounding elitist from long island, it's called "electoral." let's pronounce it -- let's be educated and let's not be buffoons. goodbye, thank you very much. host: the caller before was talking about how many electoral votes new york has. is it 29? caller: that i don't know, sir. how educated am i? host: another caller was talking about the numbers in new york. chris in hendersonville, north carolina, republican. chris, good morning. caller: i don't think the electorial college should be done away with. i think the forefathers knew what was coming, because if you just go with the trivial vote, as little as eight states could

make up the united states and you would never see a republican president again. a typical example, just like the gentleman before me talking well, new york-- city itself controls the entire state of new york. >> if we did away with the elect for a college you would lose the united states. >> yes i do believe it to be abolished. i member in the last election with hillary in 2016. she one the popular vote.

but not the electoral college. in the same with trump and i would like to know, i know you do not answer questions. how many of the last seven or eight elections have the republicans won the popular vote and not the electoral college? thank you and have a happy holiday. host: gretchen in new york. don in michigan, independent. caller: good morning. i am for keeping the electoral college. there are a couple of reasons. eliminate theo electoral college, eventually you might just eliminate state borders because it is going to become just a government of a true democracy instead of a republic, as what we have here and which we enjoy. supposingreason is, you come to an electionha