power in the senate will be decided by the winners of the two georgia runoffs. republican senators david perdue and kelly loeffler are defending their seats and republican control of the chamber. democratic challengers are jon ossoff and raphael warnock. hear from the candidates in these final races of campaign 2020. live coverage on c-span, c-span.org, and the free c-span radio app. top political story of 2020. usa today, this morning their changed the"2020 united states" with challenges for joe biden and donald trump. from pandemic to a new president. we want to get your thoughts this morning. we will begin with january of 2020, when articles of impeachment were drawn up against the president. here's adam schiff at the start

of the senate trial back in january. [video clip] >> number one, directing the white house to defy a lawful subpoena by withholding the production of documents sought therein by the committees. number two, directing other executive branch agencies and officers to defy lawful subpoenas and the production of documents and records from the committees in response to each of the department of state, the office of management and budget, the department of energy, and department of defense refused to produce a single document for record. formerng current and executive branch officials not to cooperate with the committees in response to widget nine administration officials defied subpoenas for testimony, namely john michael mulvaney, robert b

blair, john eisenberg, michael ellis, preston wells griffith, russell to you bought, michael duffey, brian mccormick, and t or brickle. these actions were consistent with president trump's previous efforts to undermine the united states government investigations into foreign interference in the united states elections. through these actions, president trump sought to arrogate to himself the right to determine the priority, scope and nature of the impeachment inquiry into his own conduct. as well as the unilateral prerogative to deny any and all information to the house of representatives in the exercise of its sole power of impeachment. of the republic, no president has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to

obstruct and impede it so, principally the ability of the house of representatives to investigate high crimes and misdemeanors. this abuse of office served to cover up the president's repeated misconduct and to and control the power of impeachment, and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the house of representatives. in all of this, president trump acted in a manner contrary to his trust as president and subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the united states. wherefore, president trump, by such conduct as demonstrated, will remain a threat the constitution if allowed to remain in office. and has acted in a manner

incompatible with the rule of law. must -- his removal from office and enjoy any office of trust or profit under the united states. host: congressman adam schiff from january of 2020, kicking off the house impeachment trial in the senate. we want to know your top political story of 2020 this morning and how it impacted you. we also want to show you from that moment in january, the president's, lawyer defending him -- lawyer, defending him. >> it is our position -- [video clip] >> it is our position that the present was acting under his constitutional authority, under his legal authority, in our national interest and pursuant to his oath of office. asking a foreign leader to get to the bottom of issues of corruption is not a violation of

an oath. it was interesting because there was discussion about lieutenant colonel vindman and one of the things we reiterate is he himself said he did not know if there was anything of crime, or of that nature. he had the policy concerns. i think that is what this is really about. it's deeper policy concerns and differences. we live in a constitutional republic where you have deep policy concerns and the differences, that should not be the basis of an impeachment. if the bar of impeachment has eeached that level, then for th sake of the republic, the danger that puts not just on this body, constitutional framework in, is unimaginable. if we have an approach

weference on a policy, are going to start an impeachment proceeding? host: impeachment 2020. this morning, those moments and others that we want to hear from you about. we will show you several others throughout today's "washington journal." tom in miamisburg, ohio, a democratic caller. good morning. caller: yes, i have some comments to make. i've said for years that crooks and politicians have their own three ring circus. yes? host: we are listening. what is your top political story of 2020? caller: i think it is all about the crooks and politicians in our government. it's right down into the states. ,ook at our city commissioners

iny're taking prime charges cincinnati. our house speaker took a $60 million bribe from a power company to get laws passed. it's a shame that these idiots keep getting reelected. and we've got the number one sitting up in washington, d.c. he can get by with anything. then this josh hawley, this nonsense he is coming up with. the people do not stand a chance living here under a regime of donald j. trump, the jerk. ok, we will leave it there. what he was referring to is josh hawley announcing yesterday that certificationhe of the vote. he tweeted, "millions deserve to be heard.

i will object on their behalf on january 6." and when he objects, according to the washington, what happens then is if there is a joint request, there has to be one from a house member as well, and there are members who say they will join him, they will have to go to separate sessions to consider the objection. for it to be sustained, both chambers must agree to it by a simple majority vote. if they do not agree, the original electoral votes are counted. let's stick with 2020 this morning. mark, a republican, what is your top story of 2020? caller: the top story of 2020 is easily the coronavirus. it's changed everyday life quite a bit. the capacity limits are in place. i cannot go to a movie theater yet here in new york, or at least my local one has not opened up. and everywhere you have to wear

a mask. couple masks in the car, but i mean, honestly it is too bad to see businesses go down the tubes sinc everyonee is worried about catching the coronavirus. it's changed our way of life. hopefully, the health measures and possibly the vaccine will fix things, but honestly for seven or eight months now we have been in this and we have not seen -- we have seen cases go up. so, the coronavirus is obviously a problem and i hope that it will go away. the american, people get through this. host: thank you. let's look back at when the white house created the coronavirus task force. it was at the end of january. and the first briefing that they held, here's dr. robert redfield. [video clip]

dr. redfield: it is a serious health issues in china, but the risk to the american public is currently low. can dol is to do all we to keep it that way. recognize the to concern the american public may have. and i want to reiterate what i just said. currently, the risk to the american public is low. as of today, there are nearly 9700 cases in china, with more than 200 deaths. additionally, currently, there are another 23 countries that have confirmed totally 132 cases. this also includes 12 individuals who have been confirmed in six countries, who did not travel to china. the cdc has launched a public health response focused on early

case ignition -- recognition, isolation of the cases identified, and contact tracing around those individuals. this response is a layered response, which includes both targeted airport screening, as well as heightened education and awareness of the american health care community to be vigilant in ascertaining the possibility of recent travel to china when they are evaluating cases with upper respiratory tract infection. to date, we have confirmed six cases of this novel virus in the united states. the most recent case had no travel history to china, but was a close personal contact of one of the previous cases that we had identified through our aggressive contact tracing. currentlyn, there are 191 individuals that are under investigation. once again, i want to emphasize

that this is a significant global situation. and it continues to evolve. but i also want to emphasize, again, that the risk at this time to the markham public is low. host: dr. redfield at the end of january and 2020. go to johns hopkins website this morning and you can see where the numbers are now, over 1.8 million deaths globally from this pandemic. fast-forward from january of 2022 last week, dr. anthony fauci talked to reporters before getting the vaccine. [video clip] >> many are saying, if dr. fauci gets the vaccine, i will get the vaccine. tell us why it is important. dr. fauci: for two reasons for me, because i am an attending physician here at the center, so i do see patients.

more important is as a symbol to the rest of the country that i feel extremely confident in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine, and i want to encourage everyone who has the opportunity, to get vaccinated so we can have protection in this country that will end this pandemic. thank you for coming today, dr. fauci. any last-minute questions or concerns? dr. fauci: nope. >> ok. we'll get a good injection here. host: dr. anthony fauci receiving the coronavirus vaccine. your top political story of 2020. harry in georgia, an independent. caller: yes, ma'am. itould say that i considered

first a medical story, it is a shame how it became a political story. thewhat i think is -- well, fact that donald trump managed to avoid impeachment, that's sort of a political story. his pardoning at the end of his term is kind of a story. but i want the political story is howorward into 2021 did mitch mcconnell managed to get elected by a 20% margin? how did lindsey graham managed to get elected by such a high-margin, when in those states that they had to get huge black participation in the reelection in order to get elected? and it was not predicted at all by the polls. and they are investigating the presidential election at the behest of the president, but why

isn't anybody investigating these local elections in kentucky and south carolina? given georgia an exam as far as the election is aren'ted, why they doing it in other states? thank you. host: he mentioned mitch mcconnell. the front page of "the washington post," "th push for the $2000 checkse hits a wall, mr. mcconnell refusing to vote on a house bill." he wants to move forward with tying the checks to those other two proposals the president has insisted he wants, election security and doing away with section 230 of a 1990's law that gives protections to social media companies for content on their platforms .

bill in florida, a republican. hi. caller: i think the number one eightfor 2020 is the cowards in the supreme court that led john roberts scream at them and tell them he was the boss, that they had to do what he said. and people outside in the hallway heard it. host: was there a specific case that comes to mind? caller: yeah, because when they were told to look at the vote fraud, seven or eight of them said they would take it up and john roberts yelled at them, i am the boss, you will do what i say. they should have ran his butt out of that court. ast: john in georgia, democratic caller. caller: good morning. i think the biggest story of 2020 politically is the election currently being held, the

elections being held in georgia, the special election and a senate runoffs for the seats currently held by senator purdue and loeffler. the two democratic candidates, two sturdy democrats, are running against two corrupt politicians, as corrupt as donald j. trump is, and his attempt to subvert our democracy are probably a time for the biggest story. but trump is coming down to florida now because he wants to try to affect the senate outcome when he knows for a fact that this is the first -- our first chance generationally, to make change. to send moscow match across the hall of the capital and move his furniture to the minority office and get real change moving in this country. to do that, we have to elect these democrats to the he united states senate.

host: what is it like living there now as the runoff approaches on january 5? caller: it is interesting you ask that, because everywhere i go the energy level is extraordinarily high. and it is extraordinarily high for the two democratic candidates, both of whom are generating this powerful groundswell of energy. of energy to the sort that "the apprentice" generated when he was running his election in 2016 with russia's help. it's a groundswell of electric energy where people say, i am taking people to the polls with me because we need to get rid of senator purdue. and let's face it, if you look at the facts of the matter, it looks like a duck, if it has webbed feet and a bill, it is a duck. it is time that we bounce them

out of office and take two democrats in. let's get the right party in charge and let's do real and lasting change for our nation . host: john, a democrat in georgia. usa today with the headline that the georgia senate runoff race record for turn out before election day. ofy are seen record numbers people voting before the generate five runoff. remember, the president will go down to georgia for a rally on january 4, ahead of the election. sandra in florida, an independent. good morning to you. caller: how are you? thank you for this opportunity. host: what is your top political story? caller: i regret to say i think the story is we have lost our free independent press. with greatad to say, loyalty and respect, c-span for 20 years.

i am afraid c-span is part of the problem. your top story is a failed impeachment attempt of president trump. now, that is bias. host: sandra, that is not the top -- caller: with all the things happening, we are going into a depression, we have a covid crisis, the biggest public health crisis, either one of those would have been appropriate, more appropriate than impeachment. pdefend your position. host: you are perceiving it that way. i was simply starting in january, at the beginning, then we show the first coronavirus task force briefing. ahre's a lot of -- there's lot of political stories and we are doing it for three hours. what we are asking is, we are just showing you moments, but the most important part of the program this morning's hearing from all of you. caller: you are not part of independent free press, you are

anti-trump. thank you. have a great day. host: we will go to tim in gainesville, florida. caller: good morning, how are you? it's nice to talk to you again. host: what comes to mind this year? caller: this year, my top story is the racial reckoning. and it has affected me personally. i'm disabled. i'm a disabled american. i get good health care because of it. doctors have me on antidepressants. and i'm in counseling. my counselor did not seem to think i needed them, but i think that is part of the problem that we have with our medical history. i wanted to talk about the fact that dr. martin luther king, when he marched from selma, he said in part of his speech, my favorite quote is when he talks about the way -- i will

paraphrase him slightly -- that the wealthy white man has been segregated from morality. southor white man in the has been segregated from the economy. the church from whiteianity and the people from honest thinking. and they segregated the negro from everything. i want to end by saying i often talk about how my family is jamaican. and one of the reasons that they came to this country from 1918, and i have my grandmother's passport, and you get a lot of calls about how the jew is black. bible, buts in the they do not translate those words. there is a book by eric

price of called th"the whiteness," and he is a real scholar. c-span has done a good job on books. but i would like to see those authors come back. and i with of see eric goldstein on there. host: ok, tim mentioning racial unrest and racial reckoning is what he said. as he was talking, showing images of protesting after the death of george floyd by police in minneapolis. i want to show you another moment from this past year, when his brother, the brother of george floyd, testified before the house judiciary committee in june, one day after george floyd's funeral. [video clip] >> world knows him as george, but i called him harry. yesterday, we laid him to rest. it was the hardest thing i ever had to do. i'm the big brother now.

ome from myjob to c brother, sisters, and his kids, and everybody who loved him. i have to be the strong one now because george is gone. and me being the big brother now is why i am here today. to do what harry always would have done, to take care of the family and others. i couldn't take care of george that day he was killed, but may be by speaking with you today, i can make sure that his death would not be in vain. he is moree that than another face on a t-shirt, more than another name on a list of will not stop growing. george always made sacrifices for our family, and he made sacrifices for complete

strangers. he gave the little he had to help others. he was our gentle giant. i was reminded of that when i watched the video of his murder. sir.lled all the officers he was mild-mannered. he didn't fight that. -- back. he listened to the officers. the man that took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds, he still called him sir as he begged for his life. i cannot tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that. when you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life, die begging for his mom -- i'm tired. i am tired of pain, pain you feel when you want something like this, when you watch your brother die, die begging for his

mom. e to ask you to make it stop. stop the pain. stop is from being tired. george called for help and he was ignored. please listen to the calls i'm making to you now, the cause of our family, and the calls ringing out across the world. people of all backgrounds, genders and races have come together to demand change. honor them, honoring george and make the necessary changes that make law enforcement of the problem. -- law enforcement the solution and not the problem. host: around that time, karen nt to the capitol steps to celebrate the house passageof the george floyd policing act. [video clip] >> this time was different.

this time the video could not be questioned. the slow murder of george floyd that took place over eight minutes and 46 seconds was not up for speculation. prior to this gruesome murder, some even questioned cellphone video's. well, we do not know what happened before the camera was turned on. what did he do? i never experienced anything like that, an officer never treated me like that, so he must've done something to deserve being killed? not this time. this time, hundreds of thousands of people in every state are marching to make sure he did not die in vain, because death will not be another -- this one not be just another black man dead at the hands of the police. people around the world are marching for human rights in america. the united nations has held discussions about human rights in america. we are supposed to be the beacon of hope for human rights in other countries and the justice

and policing act is able for human rights in our country. [applause] congresswoman karen bass on the capitol steps in june, marking the passage of the george floyd act. 2020, that is our conversation with you this morning on the last day of this year. rose in north carolina, a republican. it's your turn. caller: good morning. what a year it has been. adam schiff, nancy pelosi, hillary clinton all started it off with a planned coup to oust trump based on a false claim. in actuality, they were covering andabiding and b -- obama biden's quid pro quo with ukraine. and all of the money laundering

of funds through the clinton foundation. we will not yield to election terrorists. biden did not win this election honestly. to me that is the top story of 2020. we now know that democrats have been sleeping with communist spies and allowing them to engage in espionage at her highest level of our institutions. host: where do you get that information -- the highest levels of institutions. numeroust is in articles all over the internet. yes, i do believe that our government is being taken over by communists. i do believe it is coming from the democrat already -- the democrat party. they have sold out our country and have agreed with communists to start what is called the great reset to change our monetary funds over to some new virus they also this

have unleashed is a hidden enemy. it is hard for us to fight and they are trying to separate us to divide and conquer system. it has been used for democrats over years and years to try this very action they are attending now. host: more than 50 judges, according to open with the washington times -- according to "the washington times," in the and the attorney general william barr have found no election fraud. amy is joining us, democratic caller. go ahead. caller: good morning. wow.t want to say, the woman from north carolina, delusional. but the cap story this year that has been underreported is the republican party, its leaders,

its voters have basically shown the world that they no longer, if they ever did, believe in the constitution, the rule of law, or democracy. they very willingly, and i think country into aur one-party country where, if they can't win elections, the election doesn't count. the previous color shows that -- the previous caller shows that. they are willing to believe conspiracies because they cannot face a country where they are not the sole victors of power. that is the story of 2020, that we do not have a loyal opposition in republicans. we have basically an enemy within our country, and we need to act accordingly or view them accordingly. not in a violent way, just understanding what their true values are. it is not democracy.

it is not the constitution. it is not the rule of law. thank you. host: have you already voted in that senate runoff race? caller: i have. host: how were you able to do it before january 5? caller: i did it by mail. host: and what was the process like? caller: very simple. we have a great website here where you can ask for a mail-in ballot. you send it back in and you can track your ballot as it moves through the process. it was very convenient, very transparent. so my daughter and i did that for the general election and for this runoff. caller: have you -- host: have you tracked it all the way to the officials? you know it is going to be counted? caller: yes, it has been accepted. host: you're on the democratic line. i assume you are voting for the democratic opponents. caller: absolutely. host: john, bridgewater, new jersey, a republican.

go ahead, your top political story. caller: how are you? happy new year. host: happy new year. caller: first one, i will be very brief, is the lack of the for notd the public giving trump credit for the in ninele vaccine months. that is unbelievable. it deserves to be called the trump's vaccine. it has never been happen -- it has never happened before. the second thing is the press absolutely ignoring the riots and calling them protests when there's $2 billion of damage caused by it. in thirdly, trump's success stemming illegal immigration. a wonderful story. no one is paying attention to it. host: did you watch yesterday on "washington journal," john? caller: i did not.

host: we spent about 45 minutes talking about the president's legacy on immigration. if you missed it and you are interested, go to our website, c-span.org. you can find it there. we talked to sarah pierce of the migration policy institute about that. we will go on to robbie in bronson, florida, independent. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. big, but not very well covered rule overhow minority majority takes place in this country by gerrymandering and priority recognition in the senate. how it is that mitch mcconnell alone is able to control what bills come before the senate. law, a tradition and not a priority recognition. outbreak,ad the covid we had the recession, we had hacks of cybersecurity, we had

russian bounties on our soldiers , the only thing that the senate would allow to come to the floor .ostly was judgeships mitch mcconnell had no problem bringing up judgeships, but every single bill that came out of the house that had any kind of democratic fingerprint on was not brought up by mitch mcconnell in the senate. it is difficult for democrats to get anything through in a situation like that. and the supreme court judge that was rammed through and inducted at night is one example of that. but vice president harris, who is the president of the senate, can change this. by calling on priority recognition, which is her right, she can sidestep mitch

mcconnell disallowing bills to come to the senate. she can override this tradition of priority recognition and allow all bills that have merit to come before the senate. start, if the house would put forward a bill that would eliminate money in politics. thank you. host: robbie mentioning the president's record on the judiciary, and notably also that the president added another supreme court justice to the court in 2020. here is an exchange between now's a justice amy coney barrett and the top democrat on the senate judiciary committee, dianne feinstein. [video clip] sen. feinstein: with justice scalia's view that row was wrongly -- that roe was wrongly decided.

judge barrett: i understand why you are asking the question, but i don't have any agenda. i have the agenda to stick to the rule of law and decide cases as they come. sen. feinstein: well, as a person, i don't know if you will answer this one either. do you agree with justice scalia's view that roe can and should be overturned by the supreme court? judge barrett: i sent my answer is the same because that is a case that its contours could come up again. they came up last term before the court. is, think what the standard that just is a contentious issue which is one reason why it would be comforting to you to have an answer, but i can't express views on cases or pre-commit to approaching a case any particular way.

sen. feinstein: well, that makes it difficult for me, and i think for other women also on this committee, because this is a very important case, and it affects a lot of people, millions of women. you could be a very important vote, and i had hoped you would ay as a person, you've got lovely family, you understand all of the implications of family life, you should be very proud of that. i'm proud of you for that. but my position is a little different. you are going on the biggest court of this land. host: amy coney barrett's confirmation hearing, and she is now a supreme court justice, put on the court in 2020. is that your top political story of the year? eduardo in new york, democratic caller, good morning to you. caller: how are you?

i didn't the story of this year is the same as the last previous three years, in that so many lemmings are willing to follow cliff. con over the the man is trying to do away with our democracy and autocracy.it with an excuse me, i'm walking and exercising. because irtunate think democracy should be the dearest thing to the american people. thank you. host: all right. here is some text messages from our viewers. this from gary in liberty, missouri, independent. "it would be very hard for chief justice roberts to have been heard yelling at the associate justices, as all of the justices are working remotely and have

been since march." and then fred in california, "top story should be about the social media, how it sensors in the country that prizes itself on freedom of speech. that's not very american coming herecompanies that started . millions from this country a freedom of speech, how they were covering hunter biden dismissing the story the media." year ismy story of the president trump, if you are listening, please save our country and claim martial law. bye. host: ben, woodstock, connecticut, independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. the biggest story this year is the exposure of all the traders in the government -- the

traitors in the government, the fbi, the state department, all of those. host: what do you mean? who are you talking about? caller: all the ones who stole the election. all the ones who have sold us out over the years, shipping our jobs to china. and you are right, more people off to listen to rose. rose knows exactly what she was talking about. if more people would do their homework instead of listening to the mainstream media, they would find out for themselves. but luckily, it will all be coming out. if anybody watched georgia election yesterday, the election hearings, they heard all kinds of fraud. you people say there's no fraud. open your eyes. thank you. york. we will go to new jane in brooklyn, democratic caller. caller: how are you? host: i'm doing well. your top story of this past year? caller: i would have to go with

the covid deaths, but i also think that the russian hacking .as very upsetting and for the republicans that think that trump isn't a problem , they should reconsider. the divided country. biden won fair and square. and trump is a narcissist, so they should look that up, too. i also thing that mitch and trump should snap out of it and stop the racism. that's what i think. host: several callers bringing up the election. here's the president in a statement he delivered on the 2020 election results. [video clip] pres. trump: this may be the most important speech i've ever made. i want to provide an update on our ongoing efforts to expose the tremendous voter fraud and irregularities which took place during the ridiculously long november 3 elections.

we use to have what was called election day. now we have election days, weeks and months, and lots of bad things happened during this ridiculous period of time, especially when you have to prove almost nothing to exercise our greatest privilege, the right to vote. as president, i have no higher and then to defend the laws the constitution of the united states. that is why i am determined to protect our elections system which is now under coordinated assault and siege. for months leading up to the presidential election, we were warned that we should not declare a premature victory. we were told repeatedly that it would take weeks, if not months to determine the winner much count the absentee ballots, and to verify the results. my opponent was told to stay away from the election. don't campaign. we don't need you.

we've got it. this election is done. in fact, they were acting like they already knew what the outcome was going to be. they had it covered, and perhaps they did, very sadly for our country. it was all very, very strange. host: president trump at the beginning of december, in a video message from the white house. in mid-december, following the electoral college vote, here is president-elect joe biden. [video clip] veryiden: we saw something few predicted, even thought possible, the biggest voter turnout in the history of the united states of america. a number so big that this election now ranks as the clearest demonstration of the will of the american people which of the most amazing demonstrations of civic duty we have ever seen in our country. it should be celebrated, not attacked. more than 81 million of those votes were cast for me and vice president-elect harris.

record, more a than any ticket has received in the history of america. it read prisons a winning margin of more than 7 million votes over the number of votes cast for my opponent. together, vice president-elect harris and i earned 306 electoral votes, while exceeding the 270 needed to secure victory. 306 electoral votes is the same ander that donald trump vice president pence received when they won in 2016. excuse me. at the time, president trump called his electoral college tally a landslide. by his own standards, these numbers represent a clear victory then, and i respectfully suggest they do so now. if anyone didn't know before, they know now would be steep in the hearts of the american , democracy.is

the right to be heard. to have your vote counted. to choose leaders of this nation. to govern ourselves. in america, politicians don't take power. people grant power to them. the flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago, and we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that flame. host: president-elect joe biden from earlier this month. your top political story of 2020, claudia in north carolina, republican. what is it? caller: yes, my top story is that i thought that president trump did a wonderful job, and i would like to be able to finish. sometimes i get cut off. i thought that he does not

threaten my values as an american. , the censorship by the media. all of these things are things that we need to be concerned about in this country, with the big tech companies. ,nd the last thing is the media who does not cover stories. that's not fair to the american public, since they are public trustees and are designed as public trustees. so they automatically have the trust of the public. and when they don't honor that trust and they slant to the news or skew the news or report innuendos as fact, then they are doing a terrible thing to the american people, and i think we are seeing that happen, the slanting of the news and bias.

and i like president trump because it was promises made, and promises kept. and my last statement is perhaps people found him offensive, but i find it just as offensive to have a president-elect who won't answer questions, who won't say if he is wanting to pack the questionsanswer other that affect our civil liberties and truths that the american people have the right to know. host: do you believe that joe biden won the election? caller: you know what? i'm really not sure. i'm very objective. i've watched cnn. i do think that we have problems with our elections, and i wish i felt clearer. id i guess the last wish, i would ask that to you, is if your child told you a lie, how

big a lie would it need to be? we are looking for fraud. is there significant fraud? you know, fraud is fraud. we know it is there. so how big does it have to be? i think that is our one thing in is one vote.y, if there is any fraud, it is too much fraud. that's really how i come down about this. you know, how big does it have to be for us to just wipe it away and say, well that didn't really matter, it was only five votes? well, and some elections, like with that claudia -- i don't -- iber her last name think it was for votes. so that is really my answer on that. how much fraud do we want to accept? virginia, "top story

was warp speed, making it safe to get a covid vaccine available in months versus years." pamela and maryland, democratic caller. hi, pamela. caller: good morning. i think it is rich that president trump was calling the election a fraud months before the election even happened. i think that if there was a or ifm with the election, he thought there would be a problem, he should have addressed it earlier this year, way before the election. was that i point think one of the main stories is postmaster to joy -- postmaster he needs to be held accountable for the current disarray that the mail delivery is in because after he did what me -- with thee

sorting machines come our mail here has been in disarray ever since. i would like to know what is going to happen to him going forward. thank you. host: also another text from our viewer, jt and kentucky. linesop story is food here in america. texas, florida, georgia, alabama. miles and miles of food lines where people are starving. republicans refused to help their own people, especially mitch mcconnell." gary in ohio, you are in independent. gary, your top story. caller: yes, i want to talk about the taking down of the southern statues, renaming the bases. the southern people were a proud people. war was about the freeing of

slaves thrown at the very end, and lichen had a hard time. those people deserve to have their heroes remember, and it is part of history. history is history. we cannot change it. host: ok. tiny in texas, a republican. your turn. yes, the top story for me this year is the one that they covered up between the one you call elect president biden and his son, with burisma and china. the democratic party has been selling us out, and republicans two. they all are wolves trying to wear sheep's clothing, and they have been doing it for years. and for the news and facebook and all of them to cover it up and still not talking about it, that is my top story for me this year.

host: ok. ted, democratic caller in north carolina. greta, andd morning, happy new year. host: happy new year. relate i just wanted to that i feel the biggest political story which is not just political, but the biggest israll story in our country, the overt polarization we all feel. we actually have so much animosity toward each other, we can't see other sides of not only the political spectrum, but the virus. it has infected pretty much everything we do and say and act towards each other. we need to have more respectability and more recognition of other people's opinions. happy new year again. host: ted, who do you think could be the solution for that. caller: i am hoping our new

administration will bring some sanity to the table because at this point, i don't feel the current administration has done anything to bring the country together. thank you. host: dave, indiana, and. good morning to you. just like to say i don't understand on this stimulus package where our country can send billions of dollars out of this country, but these politicians will sit there and deny help to the american people when we desperately need it. host: are you talking about the $2000 checks? caller: yes ma'am, i am. what i am talking about is all of these politicians we have an office now that's made their millions through dealing with china, russia, and all them, but they cannot stand up for the american people. it makes me sick to this day. host: fox news headline on that story, mcconnell says no

realistic path for $2000 stimulus checks. accuses democrats of trying to pull a fast one. larry in georgia, democratic caller. hi, larry. caller: hi, greta. i am awant to say that --year-old man, and [indiscernible] -- that all of the american people, especially the white american citizens that was marching with black lives matter , and white american citizens all over the world that showed , that we haveed come a long way. andy fabricated lie that they are trying to tell the american people that we are separated, will i am here to tell all of the american people today that i

am proud of the american citizens that stood with the cause. the face of the earth can touch. and one other thing. the heartbeat of georgia became the heartbeat of the south when governor kemp stood up for the constitution of the united trump against president because that is what his oath was. he made me very proud. and i am a democrat, but i have also voted republican. i want the american people to understand that donald trump was a democrat for years and became a republican. and i want you to know that i am very proud of the united states,

and as black people and white people, we have come so far stiller, and we are america all over the world, and that is the way i am proud of the united states. thank you. host: ok, larry. kristin, oregon, republican. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. host: you bet. what is your top story? caller: my top story of this the numbert it seems of our year 2020 tells us a lot. we are in the kind of valley of vision come about at the same time, i think the top political story this year is that this is the year that truth was thrown down in the streets, starting in america and up to the rest of the world. caller an earlier continuing to spread the narrative that are president

donald trump is a racist, and that we are a divided country, and that he is a narcissist and all these things. i just think back to the charlottesville speech. it is so important for people to listen to the entire transcript, to the entire speech into hear the words that were actually spoken. i am tired of hearing these accusations that things are said that aren't said, and then we and all that narrative sorts of damage is caused. probably theller, same color, mentioned the russian hacking, still beating that drum. i am just frustrated with the lack of truth. we have lost our trust, being able to trust the media. journalism is no longer journalism for the most part across-the-board. i am glad i can call in

somewhere like c-span still in this country and hear both sides , and hear different perspectives. but we have lost our ability to be able to hear the truth. another caller brought up the issue of the hunter biden controversy. why is that not being pursued in the media? we could go on with stories like this. the cancel culture. it is gas lighting. i have heard so many times from people on the democratic side or on the leftist side making statements, making claims that actually they are guilty of, right there in front of our faces, but it is just like the keep telling us over and over these things, may be about how many people dying from covid or maybe about the narcissistic president we have, or something like that. if they keep saying it, they will be able to convince us, but we are not that stupid. , thatray that our country we are with that last caller

just said, that we are truly, actually really united, and we have come a long way. we need to allow ourselves to look clearly and see the truth in this year 2020. host: ok, kristin. we are at the top of the first hour of today's "washington journal." your top political story of 2020. we are going to continue until 10:00 a.m. eastern time, so if you are just joining us, please call in, send us a text, post on twitter or on facebook. we will try to get your thoughts in as well. s" front page, "from a pandemic to a new president. what made 20/20 unprecedented wasn't that there has been a pandemic. there has been penned mix before. -- there have been pandemics before. what made it unprecedented was this. they all happened in the same year.

from the tragic to the anfounding and more, we take look at this year's ending." mississippiolumbia, , democratic caller. good morning. caller: how are you doing, greta? host: doing well. happy new year to you. go ahead. caller: ntu -- and to you. i am just tired of hearing all the republicans that the democratic party is communist and all this kind of thing. when they sit and watch our , in this in helsinki private room with this most hated enemy of ours, and didn't tell us what they were talking about, but now i can see after the election and before, i mean, look at what happened. only onestin is the unhappy. everyone else seems to be ok.

but now this thing has got so turned around that everybody is hating each other. it is crazy. he ran on the republican ticket i think because he knew he could make everybody hate each other by being a racist. that is what i think he is, you know? i hate to say it, but you can look and see what is going on. .verybody knows now it's the way you carry yourself, the way you talk about people the whole thing about the , what does that tell you? host: thank you. and in remembrance in 2020, america lost congressmen and civil rights leader john lewis. here's the moment when his body crossed the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama one last time.

the bridge is where he helped lead the 1965 march for voting rights. let's watch. [video clip] applause]d host: the late congress passed away -- late congressman passed away from public occasions of cancer this past summer -- from complications of cancer this past summer. william, an independent, good

money to you. -- good morning to you. caller: thanks for taking my call. i am kind of torn between the biggest stories of 2020. i want to say the total psychosis, listening to all of these calls coming in, especially on the republican side, i just think the total ischosis of a party unfathomable. i can't even listen to have the callers calling in. it is like this alternate reality or something. i don't even understand half the stuff they are saying. it is like things are right before their eyes. i would say the biggest story of 2020 is just the total hypocrisy of america being on display for the world. host: in what way? caller: first, the election of donald trump.

in 2020. specifically caller: yeah, 2020 specifically. it just took a turn for the worse in 2020. but it has been on display for the world for a while now. the whole world got to see how blacks are treated in america. the world got to see how trump handled this pandemic. you talk to any foreigner here in this country, and they are just amazed at the turn this country has taken in 2020. i would say just the whole hypocrisy of america is on display for the world to see, and half the people in america typically have no view of how they are viewed by the outside world. i would say that is the biggest story. wake up and look at how you are being viewed by the world. host: william and minneapolis.

who's a tweet from a viewer says, "my top political stories, the historic election of biden/harris, the covid-19 pandemic and the president's willful lies and competence that greatly exacerbated the deaths and suffering, and the depths of a look and sunk to to enable trump's abject corruption." a democratic caller, good morning. caller: thank you, c-span. it is very interesting, all of these calls, like the man just said. first, republicans, they have turned on us. they are wanting marshall law. dictatorship?t am i correct on that? i think so. i don't agree with that. this and harris won election. they said there was no voter

fraud. and what do we get on fox? thatill hear all the news they are just lying to the people. they continue to do it, on thebook and on all of social places. they are telling people lies, and the president is the main man doing this. helsinki.uy mentioned this president is an operative of putin, of russia. he's an operative. and barr let him get away with this. this whole time. ,ow they are trying to take it like in the other dictatorship in america. who wants that? not me. i hope people wake up. host: ok, lizzie.

carl in west virginia sends us a text to say he believes the top medical story -- the top political story is the year the media and big tech teamed up to elect a democrat resident. bobby, go ahead -- democrat president. bobby, go ahead. caller: my top political story of the year, nobody is blaming where this virus came from. --. act like it is host: we are listening. you've got to mute the television. caller: i'm talking right into the phone. storythis biggest little is nobody is blaming -- everybody is blaming trump for this virus area and the virus came from china. but everybody is trying to make money in china, and y'all are trying to hide the biggest political -- and the election? this election was rigged, and

plus, y'all, c-span, ya hired scully back -- hired back after he lied about somebody hacked into his cell phone. so y'all need to get real, to. host: so where is the evidence of fraud in the election? caller: you can see it when they pulled the briefcases out in georgia. then you have a truck driver get up there and sign a waiver saying that he would go to jail if he took the ballots from new pennsylvania, and nobody will listen to him. he's just put on the back burner. a whole truckload. come on, now. host: how do you respond to the over 50 challenges in courts that were dismissed by judges? caller: the judges don't want to get tangled up in this mess. and plus, they are probably

democratic judges. it is just like stacey abrams. we are going to lose these two seats. i pretty took what was going to happen before it happene to everybodyd -- happened to everybody, it was going to be stolen. we already knew it by the mail-in ballots. host: let's go to stan in florida. caller: trump new all about this because he confessed to it right there in that book. he knew this was going to spread. he knew it was bad. i can see why some of these people believe everything he says because i have been watching fox news for the last couple of weeks, and that's all they do is blame us for packing the courts. back the courts. we didn't packed the courts. they stole obama's person and elected somebody within a couple weeks evelyn election -- couple weeks of an election. we didn't pack the court. he packed the courts.

how about injecting bleach? i hope that was pretty smart. they recounted the votes in georgia three times. now he's attacking the governor. he's attacking the assistant governor. he says his brother is working for china. the guy doesn't even have a brother. he wants to invite all these people to washington to have a riot that day. if he had just done what hillary clinton did, just conceded the election and just walked away, we wouldn't be having these arguments. he lost by the same margin that she lost by. but yet, he won't go down because they want him in new york for tax evasion, and he's scared to death. that's the truth. that's the big story of the year. he lost and he won't admit it. host: deborah sends us this tweet. "the story that should not have been political at all, covid." take a look at cnn's headline.

daily covid-19 death for the second time in around -- for the second day in a row. another 80,000 could die in the next three weeks." [video clip] pres. trump: you hit the body with an ultraviolet light. i said, suggesting you put the light inside the body which you can do through the skin or in some other way, and i think you said you're going to test that, too. sounds interesting. and then i see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? because you see it gets in the lungs.

you are going to have to use medical doctors, but it sounds interesting to me. so we will see. but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that is pretty powerful. host: president trump back in april. we are looking at the year 2020 on this last day of this year, asking you what your top political story is. to say "the island on thery should be corruption of the democrat party . millions spent. the media is just as corrupt." caller: i would like everyone to have a blessed new year. i have to subject i would like to bring up. one is russia. i would love to know what putin has on trump. trump met with him and helsinki, like the guy talked about before. to this day, we don't know what

they talked about. russia put bounties on our soldiers. trump don't do anything about it. poisons hisut and main rival. not one word of condemnation from trump about this. another thing, the republicans show no empathy or compassion for anyone. people out here are suffering. instead of them trying to pass the $2000 to help people, mcconnell and them are blocking it. i hope the people in georgia thisup and vote democrat time. we need people in power that's going to help people now. we have over 300,000 people dead , almost 18 million infections, and what are the rip lukens offering? nothing -- the republicans offering? nothing. they care about the deficit now. where was all of this concern when they passed the trillion dollar tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy?

they didn't care about the deficit then. they care a sudden about the deficit. i mean, where are our priorities? if the people in georgia don't wake up, if america don't wake up, i don't know what to say. i am praying for joe biden and kamala harris. thank you. host: rick in west virginia, a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i would love to talk about something that republicans and democrats support, bipartisan, and that is the future of space exploration. this year has been a major year with major accomplishments. theirinese launched sample return mission to bring a table back from the moon for the first time in 40 years. they are now a major player on the level of united states and russia. elon musk launched for his first time a suborbital mission, his

starship mission, which in the next year or so will very likely go into orbit. and also, there has been a report from the breakthrough listening project of possible evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence from proxima centauri. this year is going to be even more significant as we find out more about this signal and is elon musk continues with his testing with starship, and as the united states and china and other countries start to work with the artemis program. withhinese aren't working the artist program, but they have their own program. so there will be a lot of compliments in lunar exploration in the engineering of space vehicles. it is going to be a very significant year, the year 2021. host: ok. pete is in south carolina, and independent. pete, your top political story.

caller: yes, good morning. thank you for this broadcast. i would just like to say i have traveled this country far and wide, and i have not only met, but known homeless people. i've known people on wall street. this country has a lot in common , and i always wanted the opinions, and i never shared my own because i wanted the truth, and i've heard all the sides. media that wee all see on either side would be better served if they do what you guys do more often, which is ask people one hour a day, call in, give your opinions. but the thing about 2020 that will be burned in my memory forever because i'm going to miss a lot of people in this country that have lost their lives to covid is that -- again, and i am not picking on donald -- i'm just saying when he stuck his arm across the chest

wasr ouchi -- after fauci on the podium and didn't let him finish one day, it scared me to death. i believe we are praying the price at this point because that stopped a lot of the truth i believe that was going to come out, and i think it would have helped us all. i thank you for taking my call, and thank you, c-span. please, the rest of the media, watch what they are doing. let people call in to your channels. let them hear both sides of an opinion on all of the different types of media. thank you. host: happy new year to you. mike in ohio, to accredit color. -- democratic caller. caller: hello. how are you? i think the story of the military being broke, and we are based in over 100 countries after we arm saudi arabia with all types of equipment, plus the limited scope of the mueller

report. you know, when the government lies to you, the truth becomes a traitor. we need to bring back the fairness doctrine. that is why so many people are confused. so question more, people. be vigilant. thank you. host: and mike, would you put the withdrawal -- we lost mike. mike mentioning the military. this question goes to you all out there as well, about the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan and iraq, the present -- the promise the president made when he ran for office in 2016. the caller also mentioned the mueller report. we showed you the senate impeachment trial at the beginning of today's "washington journal." here is the moment when the president addressed supporters after beinguary acquitted by the senate. [video clip] pres. trump: we have been going

through this before. it was evil. it was corrupt. it was dirty caps. it was leakers and liars. this should never happen to another president ever. i don't know that other presidents would have been able to take it. some people said no, they wouldn't have. youn tell you at a minimum, have to focus on this because it can get away very quickly, no matter who you have with you. it can get away very quickly. it was a disgrace. comey, whoired james was a disaster, by the way, it is possible i wouldn't even be standing here right now. we caught him in the act. dirty cops. bad people. if this happened to president obama, a lot of people would have been in jail for a long time already. many years. host: that was the president back in april after being acquitted in the senate on those impeachment charges.

oregon, you are a republican. good morning to you. caller: good morning to you. a happy new year and a late merry christmas to you. host: same to you. [laughter] i am wondering if anybody watches "the 700 club," a christian channel. impeachmentat this that they tried to do to trump was very wrong. that is agentleman russian -- i called him bin biden.- joe because his son receives millions of dollars. what are they going to do when he becomes president? are they going to do the same thing they tried to do with

trump, or are they going to let it go by? that is my ideal of seeing what is going on. people should watch the christian channel. they will understand that our president that we have now means well. i don't understand why they say he's racist because why is there ed or anyat are color other nationality that are voting republican, and they are democrats? republicansere's that are in the government that now, so i don't understand why they say that he's racist. host: all right. democrat from michigan sends us this text, saying, "top political story of 2020 is the

undeniable exposure of big tech's massive overreach into our everyday lives. also the unwillingness from those who remain ignorant to accept truth." jeff is an ox color -- is our next caller. caller: i think the biggest story was the pardoning of general michael flynn because of him calling for martial law for trump to steal the election. i believe general flynn is a traitor to this country, having dealt with russia and being an word,nsed -- what is the working for turkey without admitting it, and working for russia without admitting it. he's been a traitor to his own country. i think that is the top story. host: michael, danville,

illinois, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. of thisthe top story overall been distortions. the inability for people to see the forest because of the trees. who haveeen callers supported our president, and that's fine. i'm not going to use any .erogatory words just stating fact. the republicans will say this election was rigged. even our president, two days before the election, said this is going to be an overwhelming landslide win for the republicans, and if it is not,

it's because the election was raked. -- was rigged. so he had bases covered for a victory, for a defeat. no proof that there was election fraud. in fact, in georgia, when they did the recount, they determined that 80 additional votes should have been counted towards biden. if you want to look at the , they have in texas a governor who established that there would be one collection box, one collection site per county. who is that going to impact? is that going to impact middle-class white america, or is that going to impact negatively the poor minorities and such? 45 yearss in college

ago, i was a journalism major, english minor. much by one ofso my professors that you must be accurate. that the press has accuracy, and that is what we lay our claim to fame on. now everyone can't accept the truth. we are like the movie "a few good men." "you can't handle the truth." we are like people who turn to the internet for their news. you can find anything on the internet. find that the vaccine is mind control. anything goes. host: understand your points there, michael.

more of your calls coming up. january third, 2021 is opening day of the 173rd congress. you will be able to watch our coverage here on "washington journal" in the morning and continuing through the afternoon . and then the vote for speaker of the house will take place on the floor as well. you can watch right here on c-span, on c-span2, the opening day of congress for the senate, on our website, c-span.org, and on the free c-span radio app. speaker pelosi was nominated for isaker in 2020, and here she noting the smaller majority she is going to have in this next congress. [video clip] rep. pelosi: but having the the house anding winning the white house, is

opportunity for us to work together with the president, and has a a president unifying impact as well, especially when he is a unifier like joe biden. so i am excited about the prospect, and sometimes when there is a smaller number of people, you see the urgency of listening to each other, respecting each other's voice because we all have to go down the path mostly together. host: speaker pelosi in 2020. in 2021, she faces a smaller majority in the house, and she cannot lose very many democratic votes for the speaker election that takes place this sunday, january 3. watch our coverage of the house here on c-span and on the senate on c-span2. edward in iowa, you are a

republican. what is the top story of this year, in your opinion? caller: good morning, greta. happy new year to you and your family. host: and to you. caller: my top story, having worked as a journalist with the military, comes from a story that was never reported, but from another story. when joe will recall biden did that on tv, and then talked about ukraine and the firing of the ukrainian prosecutor, the headline would , joe biden throws obama under the best. throws obama under the bus." if people will recall. one question about joe biden not having authority to give him that $1 billion in exchange for firing the ukrainian president, he said, "call him. ask him." that tells me right away right there, that obama was fully

aware that this was going to occur before biden headed to ukraine. you have a good day, greta. host: ok, everett. jolene in new york says the huge story is the decline of the country that in very few ways resembles the republic it was designed to be. the destructive forces of the left have convinced half the nation to reject the principles of american capitalism. the shining city on the hill has eroded to the delight of the globalists/socialists. the final nail in the coffin was the destruction of our election integrity in the way that the presidential election was handled. god bless america." well.n send your text as you can send us a tweet @c-span wj. liz in new jersey, democrat. hi, liz. caller: good morning.

is the the biggest story covid deaths in our nation this year. we are leaving this year fewer people with us that needlessly lost their lives . covid was going to come, it came worldwide, but it was our inability to pull together and work together and identify the problem as covid, wear the masks, do all the other protocols. we managed to take a bad situation, and along with no leadership from president trump, we made it far, far worse than

it had to be. we only have to look to canada's statistics daily and yearly with covid. yes, it is a smaller population, but still, the difference in death totals is astounding. peopleve lost far fewer than us to the tune of 15,472 people. 334,000.rsus we were not that much greater in population. we should never have been in this territory of human death, and we have to thank all the people who chose not to wear the fake,who called it out as who ignored the situation as a group, worse and worse and spread it across our country

from one sea to the other. it did not need to be this bad. so i think the greatest story is our failure -- and i won't even put it all on trump, though he was divisive and he helped cause it, promoted non-mask wearing and things like that. but those of us who did the protocols are pulling in one direction to lower the human cost. those who chose not to, they put us exactly in this position where we are now dependent on vaccines to extricate ourselves out of this. host: liz, the headline on "the hits aewspaper, the u.s. daily high with coronavirus deaths yesterday. as of wednesday morning, the u.s. has recorded a total of 338 ,656,00 656 --

deaths due to covid-19. the record numbers come as 2 million americans have received their first doses of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the date of the cdc, though this is far of the trump administration goal of 20 million vaccinated by the end of the year. , a member of arkansas republicans, go next. judy, good morning. all right, emelia in massachusetts, independent. amelia, you are next. caller: good morning. i agree with that last caller about covid being the top story. obviously it has consumed everything. that isave a president just -- he is not even doing a thing, he is off on the golf

course as almost 400,000 americans are dying -- as almost 4000 americans are dying every day. i hear people saying how great and wonderful he is. they listen to every single thing he says as if it is the truth. they don't do any research, and if they do research, they will find any source and say, see, it is on the internet, it must be true. this is what i love about c-span. you can watch the bill being put up, see what their voting for. the republicans, they don't want to help people. just go back to work, everything is fine. it's not fine. if you don't have customers coming in, how are you supposed to go back to work? it boggles my mind. one good thing trump did do is he exposed the simple fact that people will believe anything if they want to believe it. they don't do any research. my example is, trump has never even spoken of any of these

deaths. all he wanted to do was hurt immunity. he put a guy up there that was a rddiologist -- was he immunity. he put up a guy that was a radiologist. look at southern california. you look at southern california, they think if i get sick i will just go to the hospital. these poor people cannot even go to the hospital there. they are going to be rationing care like more time. it is so scary and people just lobbied, trump is the greatest. he is off golfing. 315 days, that's a full year. people will say obama golfed that much. not during a crisis. obama was not ignoring people for his own political power grab. and i don't just blame trump, i blame all those republicans who label him. host: understood.

2020 was also marked by the ,eath of ruth bader ginsburg supreme court justice dying in the fall. "the new york times" notes that when she was laid in state and it was a rare distinction. she was the first woman who received the honor, joining a long list of representatives and senators. long list from the fall.

host: the practice of lying in lyingdates back to 1852, in state in the capitol is among the rarest of tributes. today in lexington, south in lexington, south carolina, a democratic caller. good morning. caller: good morning, greta. thank you for taking my call. i wanted to point out my topic .or the story of 2020 the most significant one that the trumpind is how administration is trying to overthrow the election, and i want to bring out that it was a calledn 1898, and it was wilmington fire. inhappened in 1898

wilmington, north carolina. they overthrew the government. they overthrew the election process. they disenfranchised a lot of black's during that time. and when you think about black's in this country, we have been disenfranchised. i know a lot of americans have spoken with they voted for joe biden. where in this country lies has been told about black's and the history of who we are as a people in this country, and it is sad. they are still killing us. mean, the truth be told about who black's are and the contributions that they have made in this country, we are actually the original people on this earth. we have been so disenfranchised -- everything has been broken.

out about whoomes we are, we can all get along and just let the truth prevail. it comes to when biblical stories and different things. when i look at 81% of evangelical christians who voted for donald trump, man, i mean, trump is dividing this country so bad. so we need to look and research and look at our history. greta, i commend you on listening to me, but please look that information up. in 1898, there was an overthrow of our election process in wilmington, north carolina. jay mentioning racial relations. before and after the death of george floyd in may, in minneapolis, his brother testifying on capitol hill in

june before the judiciary committee. here's what he had to tell lawmakers. >> the world knows him as george, but i called him harry. yesterday we laid him to rest. it was the hardest thing i ever had to do. big brother now. cover mymy job to brother and my sister and his kids. i have to be the strong one now because george is going. and me being the big brother now is why i am here today. to do what harry always would have done. to take care of the family and others. i could not take care of george that day he was killed, but maybe by speaking with you today i can make sure that his death

will not be in vain. to make sure that he is more than another face on a t-shirt, more than another name on a list that will stop growing. george always made sacrifices for our family, and he made sacrifices for complete strangers. he gave the little that he had to help others. he was our gentle giant. i was reminded of that when i watch the video of his murder. officers all the "sir." he was mild-mannered. he didn't fight back. he listened to all the officers. the man who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds, he still called him sir as he begged for his life. i cannot tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that.

when you want your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life die, die begging for his mom? i'm tired. i'm tired of pain. pain you feel when you watch something like that. when you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole life, die, die begging for his mom, i am here to ask you to make it stop. stop the pain. stop us being tired. george called for help and he was ignored. please listen to the calls i am making to you now, to the calls of our family and the calls ringing throughout the streets of the world. people of all backgrounds, genders, and races have come together to demand change. honor them. honor george and make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution and not the problem. [end video clip] ont: george floyd's brother

capitol hill back in june. if you missed that and you want to hear more from him, go to our website, c-span.org. , republican from fredericksburg, virginia, go ahead. caller: the top political story for everybody on earth should be the chinese government should be commended, patted on the back, and rewarded for tremendous for destroying the world and putting them as a last man standing. what that will do, it will force everyone to look at them and realize what they have done to the world. this is all about destroying the american dollar, and once the american dollar is destroyed, all countries will go to china to invest in them as they now invest in us. view andve a birdseye

you fly over and you see the whole thing or you have a worm's eye view, you stick your head up and you cannot see past the grass sticking up, the birdseye view is that we have -- our politicians have destroyed the american world that we once knew. we are never going to have that again. it is just like your child having a $40,000 credit card bill. he is not going to climb out from under, he is going to have to pay. there is no way we are ever going to pay off this debt. this is all about destroying the american dream, or just the american dollar, which is the american dream, and that will destroy so many things. but if you really get a birdseye view on this, china needs to be patted on the back so they will have to take credit for all of it. host: understood. sunny in bethlehem, georgia, independent. caller: good morning. host: good morning. what political story stands out

to you from this past year? results,he election adults, old men and young men tend to be kids because they want somebody to teach them how to be -- how to use their brain. that is very sad. host: damien, brooklyn, democratic caller. caller: hi. yes, hi, can you hear me? host: we can. caller: great to be on with you. besides what happened with george floyd and we are revealing that nothing has changed in policing and the black and brown communities, and how that was revealed, i would say the biggest story is revealing how poor our current economic system is. it is really a system where we

have cold, hard capitalism for the working man, and every day people, and then you have this abundance of socialism for giant corporations. and was greatly revealed, it is showing that our current system cannot handle a pandemic. the free market cannot handle a pandemic. host: and why not? caller: because there is competition. you need -- to handle a pandemic, you need a centralized system, a government, a strong government, to be able to administer help quickly, and that is what -- nobody beat the government, the administration. since the 1980's, both republicans and corporate democrats have tried to tear it down to the point where it cannot act anymore.

we have heard government bad, government bad for so many years, i feel like a 1950's fdr new deal, the government would have been able to handle the pandemic just fine. as long as education, health care, and housing are profit based, it will never serve the people. we are going to have to go forward now. biden is a placeholder president, but we will have to go forward and rethink. people are going to have to to be -- all it takes is unemployed for one month and not have health insurance, and wonder what the heck you are going to do to realize how flawed the system is. host: all right, damien. the wall street journal reports this morning u.s. unemployment claims the main elevated in the latest week of government data. you can read that on wsj.com. bradley, prince george, virginia, independent. caller: thank you for having my call.

of top there is a lot stories this year, of course -- the pandemic, the election. but i think the top political story of the decade is senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. with the late installment of supreme court justice of amy barrett, that is a good reason why. but, you know, despite , mitch mcconnell has kept the country together in a way throughout the donald trump presidency, and of course he has been a very controversial s figure back to the obama era. as a fanta government, i have to give it to mitch mcconnell. host: bradley, an independent. people are saying that people coming out in masks out mask industries to protect law-enforcement brutality against fellow humans come unarmed and in submissive positions that did not warrant

excessive, despicable force. it is that viewer's top political story. usa today has put together the top moments from 2020 in their papers this morning. they say it was the year that changed the united states, creating a big fork in the road with challenges for biden and president trump. inside the paper, they note in january, a top organization announced the top virus related pneumonia. there was the impeachment trial of president trump that opened in the senate in that month, and the first case of covid-19 in the united states confirmed by the cdc. also, in january, the president established the white house coronavirus task force and signed the u.s.-china, mexico trade agreement. lay -- a three day delay in the count, pete buttigieg was declared the winner. acquitted -- bernie

-- recommending a lighter sentence for trump advisor roger stone back in february. bernien february, sanders won the nevada caucuses. in march, you will remember super tuesday in march. it solidified the presidential primaries for biden, with the lead in that state, remember, it was in south carolina. where jim clyburn endorsed the president-elect in that primary state, and many saying he deserved the credit sealing the nomination for the president-elect. until 10:00ournal a.m. eastern time, your political stories of 2020. catherine in kansas, democratic

caller, good morning. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. i just want to say my biggest they going forward is eroding of our democracy. host: i'm going to jump in because there is annoying feedback we are getting. if you could call in again, we will get you on the line. roger in twin falls, idaho, says give president trump credit for peace in the middle east, prison reform, trade deals, border security, and best employment in history. philip in ohio, a republican. hi, philip. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: you bet. your top story? caller: news media this year. jim acosta just called for -- during the biden campaign, all that was asked was the flavor of ice cream, so we really did have

a good and fair election, didn't we? woodbridge, virginia, republican. tom. caller: i just want to say you are a national treasure. without c-span we would not get any actual news at all. there have been several people that have talked recently about the division in the country, the collapse of our democracy, etc. listen, here is the number one problem. it is a cascading problem. social media is not news. and if you go and you look at the documentary social dilemma on netflix, it will explain how the way that the algorithms and social media and on google, the way things are working, it is working to incrementally -- and

i am not a conspiracy guy -- it is just the way the programs are designed, is to feed you the most provocative news of the day on your topic, based on your political leanings. so if i'm a liberal person, i'm going to get the most provocative news that is liberally leaning about the president if i can search the president's activities. if i'm a conservative, i will get the most conservative provocative news and information of the day. because it is on the internet, it does not have to be factual, it just has to be provocative. so incrementally over the past 10 years, we have grown further and further apart. we have to go to alternative facts. because these are not really facts. this is information lying around on the internet that people look at as facts. to make matters works, the major news networks are not news networks, they are actually legally entertainment channels.

so there is a conservative entertainment channel and a liberal entertainment channel. so if you are going to go to these big huge networks, you are actually being fed entertainment. it is notnews, factual. it is opinions so i read about two to three books a month. most people do not read today. they don't have critical thinking skills. if you read two months and -- two books a month, start now when you're 18, 19, 20 years old, it's not hard. at the end of the year you have read 24 books. at the end of 10 years you have read 240 books. years, over 500 books. that, one to two books a month, after 10 years you will

be one of the most informed people about actual factual things than anybody you know. rely on social media as entertainment channels to give you your fax. host: tom in woodbridge, virginia, with that advice. attacks, -- sends us a text. i am betting it will be the .iggest story of 2021 early in georgia, democratic caller. caller: good morning, greta, how are you doing? i have been listening to you. i want to let you know i am a minister of the gospel. i want to say this right here. this is the most important thing for you and everybody else. we have forgotten about the lord jesus christ, which is our first love.

i heard a man say read the a book,.ad learn to love like jesus christ. .e would be a whole lot better a full messiah told full sin from a. you that,will tell but people need to read the word of god. they are taking the word of god and twisting it. we need to start loving, go back to our first love, the lord jesus christ and bring this country back. i am not worried about this country. i do not worry about what people say, i worry about what the bible say. host: lynn in arizona, an independent. caller: good morning. i think the biggest story is covid.

all the people that we have lost, the hero nurses, doctors, first responders, essential workers at the grocery stores who unselfishly worked to save the lives of so many. the other story is a president -- he willing to exploited fears surrounding race, with fears of democratic -- of demographic change in this country. he was willing to use a mask to divide us, using dog whistles. if you want to know why people think he is a racist, what do we think about a president who in people screaming white power he echo -- white power. we all know why. host: we will get more of your voices coming up in the last hour of the washington journal. to take a look back at 2020. your top political story of the

year. several of you mentioned covid-19, their pandemic obviously a headline throughout 2020. let's take you back to january of 2020. the president establishes the white house coronavirus task force at the end of that month, after the first case of covid-19 in the united states is confirmed by the cdc. here is dr. robert redfield from the first briefing of the white house task force. [video clip] is a serious health situation in china, but i want to emphasize that the risk to the american public currently is low. do goal is to do all we can to keep it that way. second, i want to recognize the concern that the american public may have, and i want to reiterate what i just said currently, the risk to the american public is low. as of today there are nearly , with morein china

than 200 deaths. additionally, currently there 2300 countries that have confirmed a total of 132 cases. this also includes 12 individuals who have been confirmed in six countries who did not travel to china. cdc has launched an aggressive public health response, focused on early case recognition, isolation of those cases identified, and contact tracing around those individuals. this response is a layered response which includes both targeted airport screening as well as heightened education and awareness of the american health care community, to be vigilant in ascertaining the possibility whencent travel to china, they are evaluating patients with upper respiratory tract

infections. today we have confirmed six cases of this novel virus in the united states. the most recent case had no travel history to china but was a close personal contact of one of the previous cases that we identified through our aggressive contact tracing. in addition, there are currently 100 91 individuals under investigation. emphasize, i want to that this is a significant global situation, and it continues to evolve. but i also want to emphasize again that the risk at this time to the american public is low. [end video clip] that was in january of 2020. by march of 2020, congress passed an $8.3 billion covid relief bill, and the president signed it. the world health organization in aat month declared covid-19

pandemic. go to april. that is when the cd recommends, starts recommending all-americans consider wearing a mask. this is from usa today. in may, covid-19 death toll the 100,000000 -- mark. in june, confirmed covid-19 cases, 2 million on june 10. june 20 eight, confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide pass 10 million. global death toll exceeds 500,000. you can find this in usa today. fast-forward to today's headlines on cnn's website and many others today. uss a daily record of covid-19 deaths for the second day in a row. another 80,000 to die in the next three weeks, according to a new forecast. justine in albuquerque, new mexico, a democratic caller. you are up next. good morning to you. greta. good morning,

sorry, i was cooking my breakfast right now. host: top political story? caller: thank you so much. my top political story is definitely covid and the response the government has had to it. mexico,, i am in new and i seriously question the governor's strict responses, and i think it almost goes against the least restrictive alternative philosophy that we have in america. highlyause of that, i am thinking about switching from being a democrat to a republican to just affect the primary of who is going to be the republican in my state going against the governor. to affect politics. i think china is the elephant in to room, and i think we need seriously address our relationship with them and russia and people we have been

adversarial against. i see a serious economic change with us going to digital. i think schools are going to be -- are going to be very digital and ica corporate capitalist system developing. host: a tweet, the presidential election with a record number of votes and our first female vice president is the top story. the election was free and fair despite people's refusal to accept those facts. the american voters are the true heroes in 2020. we voted in a pandemic in record numbers. ohio,in englewood, republican. hi, rocky. caller: hi, how are you doing? top story? your caller: my little thing is the givingat they were not everybody a chance to understand

electionsor to our because the media, which is what,isan too, guess something that i am not, a democrat. i am a republican. all the way. us.has got a direction for .e is taking care of those god bless them and all of our soldiers. host: robert in greenville texas, an independent. we will show you some of the headlines in newspapers across the country. this morning the last day of 2020. what is your top story from this year? caller: i am going to try to get back on the topic of the political. coronavirus obviously is terrible, but it doesn't know

politics. the top story i think is the abdication of the rule of law in this country. basically letting the justice department be subverted by the , and the entire political system allowing it to happen. if politics is a political war back and forth, when you can basically take over a whole branch of government -- we are supposed to be checks and balances in three separate branches of government. i think it is high time we take a hard look at maybe an amendment to get the judicial branch of government to assume control of the justice department. i know this is a real stretch

for people, but i think this the problem of ining an attorney general the justice department bending to the will of the executive branch in all manners, whether it is the impeachment, the political fighting over the supreme court justice, just the total abdication of government to the executive branch, and mainly the judiciary. in a nutshell, you know, that is probably the most important check and balance that we have in this country, is a fair and equal justice under the law. and i think, you know, that this point whereturning that is actually being destroyed.

so that is -- on a political sense, i think as far as toitics, that loss is going take a long time to repair. that is my comment. it is a little off tune with most of the other callers this morning. but there was some political things that happened this year that are going to take a long time to repair, and we are going to look back on this year as hopefully a watershed moment where we can get back to the original foundation of this law, thend the rule of separation of powers, i think is being tested tremendously this year. host: robert in texas. dale in miamisburg, ohio. a democratic caller. when you think about this year, what immediately comes to mind? part in ourrace

country. the way i see race in our 2.0.ry, it is apartheid i also wanted to let you know that the callers calling in about helsinki, what trump did in helsinki, it doesn't compare to what he did in the white house when he took the russians in the white house and he would not let our president in there, but he he would not let our press in there, he would -- he would not let our press in thee, but he would invite russian press in there. host: ok, dale. says, "the tweet presidential election with a record number of votes and our first female president, the -- first female

vice president. the election was -- i already read this, my apologies. this person gets on twice. we will show you the president's video message from earlier this month. when he delivered a statement on the 2020 election results. [video clip] this may be the most important speech i have ever made. i want to provide an update on ongoing efforts to expose tremendous voter fraud and irregularities which took place during the ridiculously long november 3 elections. was calledhave what election day. now we have election days, weeks, and months, and lots of bad things happened during this ridiculous period of time, especially when you have to prove almost nothing to exercise our greatest privilege, the right to vote. as president, i have no higher duty than to defend the laws of

the constitution of the united states. that is why i am determined to protect our election system, which is now under coordinated assault and siege. for months leading up to the weredential election, we warned that we should not declare a premature victory. we were told repeatedly it would take weeks if not months to determine the winner, to out the absentee ballots, and to verify the results. my opponent was told to stay away from the election, don't campaign. we don't need you, we have got it. this election is done. in fact, they were acting like they already knew what the outcome was going to be. they had it covered. and perhaps they did, very sadly for our country. it was all very, very strange. [end video clip] host: that was president trump on december 2. resident elect joe biden

addressed america on december 14 after the certification of electoral votes. mr. biden: we saw something very few predicted, or even thought possible. the biggest voter turnout in the history of the united states of america. a number so big that this election now ranks as the clearest demonstration of the true will of the american people. one of the most amazing demonstrations of civic duty we have ever seen in our country. it should be celebrated, not attacked. more than 81 million of those votes were cast for me and vice president-elect harris. that, too, is a record. more than any ticket has received in the history of america. it represents a winning margin of more than 7 million votes over the number of votes cast for my opponent. together, vice president-elect harris and i earned 306 electoral votes, well exceeding the 270 needed to secure

victory. 306 electoral votes is the same number of electoral votes that donald trump and vice president pence received when they won in 2016. at the time, president trump calls the electoral college tally a landslide. by his own standards, these numbers represent a clear victory, and i would respectively suggest they do so now. they know now what beats deep in the hearts of the american people is this -- democracy. your to be heard, to have vote counted, to choose leaders of this nation to govern ourselves. in america, politicians don't take power. people grant power to them. was -- a of democracy long time ago.

-- was written in this nation a long time ago. not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that flame. [end video clip] president-elect joe biden from earlier this month. usa today -- which moment stands out to you as your top political story of 2020? james in newington, connecticut, a republican. hi, james. caller: hi, thank you. host: happy new year. caller: happy new year to you as well. although i consider myself a citizen caller, i now more see myself as a citizen journalist. i say that to you because i think the biggest story of the the has absolutely been unwillingness of the united states media and other organizations to truly look into the origins of the coronavirus or covid virus 19 and look at it objectively.

we have had so much evidence out there that china, at the wuhan virology clinic, produced the virus in 2015 that was published by chinese researchers in the november 11 issue, 2015, of nature magazine. they wrote about how they had created a virus by mixing bat sars virus with human lung cells, and using technology to create a very strong virus. guess what -- after that, a gentleman by the name of duncan hunter wrote an op-ed in the next issue, december's magazine, where he said that the creating of virus that can jump right into human lungs from bats, the created the pa possibility of a pandemic if it escapes. again, this was all public knowledge. anyone who could read national geographic or newsweek or time

could pick this up. we saw this virus pick up. if there was a day that you woke up in hershey, pennsylvania, and found chocolate all over the streets, you would walk up to the streets to the factory and knock on the gates and ask, did you all have an accident. instead, there is surprise that the only city in china that has -- the national news media completely ignored the story because they did not want to bring up china and joe biden in the same sentence. and we have been following ever since. the chinese government itself had the leading member of the signs politburo of china, doing an interview with the woman in charge, and the chinese said that the virus did not come from the market because no chinese believe it. but we still pushing that story in america. host: james, a republican come

his opinion on that. this is a viewer who texted us from california saying, "economic disparity, the decline of the middle-class, dream unattainable, higher education, working families working through jobs, 500 billionaires controlling millions of others. in the most negative ways, the middle class supplies oxygen to the same 500 billionaires. i hope people reimagine the american dream. happy new year. diane from houston, texas, democratic caller. caller: good morning and happy new year to everyone listening. i hope 2021 will be better than 20/20. i think the most political thing for 2020 was just the racial division, especially after george floyd was killed. you know, i just pray that 2021 -- we have all come together as

a nation, as a set of people, and getting past our differences. one of the things that stood out to me when joe biden said that he wanted to run for president georgia andafter they came out with -- to me, that was like a flashback of the early 70's and the 60's and things that my family had to go through, experience and discrimination, and it is hard to believe that here we are in 2020, still experiencing things like that. so many different resources. when we can learn about each other's culture and learn to respect each other. i think that is what is missing. everyone wants to be heard. no one wants to be understood or understand where -- what others are going through. look past 2021 we can our own racism and discrimination because i think we all have biases.

it is understanding each other. host: diane mentioning racial tensions, racial relations in this country. we showed you this before, but let's go back to the moment on capitol hill on the steps after the house passes the george floyd justice in policing act. congressional black caucus chair karen bass, democrat of california, marks the moment. [video clip] on may 20 5, 2020, the world changed. the video could not be questioned. the slow murder of george floyd that took place over eight minutes and 46 seconds, is not up for speculation. prior to this gruesome murder, some even question cellphone video's. we don't know what happened before they camera was turned on. what did he do, what crime did he commit? because i never experienced anything like that. he had to have done something to deserve to be killed. not this time.

this time hundreds of thousands of people in every state in the union are marching to make sure that he did not die in vain. that it will not be another black man dead at the hands of the police. sadly, people around the world are marching for human rights in america. the united nations has held discussions about human rights in america. we are supposed to be the beacon of hope for human rights in other countries, and the justice and policing act is a bill for human rights in our country. [end video clip] host: karen bass on the capitol 2020.back in in south carolina, they had their own legislation but the sides never came together on their bill. stephen from florida, republican. hi, stephen. caller: thank you for taking my

call. i was calling because my wife is a virologist. one of the things that she has discussed in reading about all the viruses that she has worked on, including sars, it is not the virus that is killing us, it drugs in there are market that produce a site assigned storm. stephen, you're breaking up. are you there? caller: yes, i am. host: finisher thought there. caller: my wife is an immunologist. storm isof klein -- killing most of the people, not the virus itself. the body reaction to a spider bite or snakebite, it is the body reaction that kills us. ,o reduce the storm hydroxychloroquine is extremely effective, for example, and

c-span had a senate hearing. they showed this, and the only doctor that showed up from the government had never even waited on a client that had covid. i love the fact that they actually had it on television, but it never made it to the main channels, it never made it to msnbc. the question is why? why are we not seeing many -- all -- harvard, yale these famous doctors that believe in hydroxychloroquine as preventing death? because it does not fit the narrative of creating chaos. it sounds silly, but if we watch msnbc all the time and do not watch other channels, we will not know both sides of the story. host: capitol hill producer tweets out this morning, republican maria olvera salazar, who flipped the district seed in miami last month i defeating democratic congresswoman and

former clinton hhs secretary donna shalala, has tested positive for covid-19 and his self-isolating at home. as you all know, we told you yesterday that rick letlow, commerce min elect, died from -- luke letlow, congressman elect, died from coronavirus complications. he was 41 years old and set to be sworn into office on sunday. sunday is the day that the new congress will gavel in. on 117th congress begins sunday, january 3, as the constitution says that it must. we will have coverage on c-span, starting with the washington journal at 7:00 a.m., and throughout the day on c-span, over on c-span two you will be able to watch the opening day in the senate. eric in waynesville, north

carolina. democratic caller. your top story of 2020? caller: hey, greta. host: good morning. caller: i am up here in the smoky mountains, thinking about all my people. my concern is that misinformation and and the ability to spread those things and not be able to, you know, determine what artifacts or not facts, who is well read and who is not well read -- i just think it is -- i -- i mean, it is the end of us. you are not going to stop it. the genie is out of the bottle.

i mean, it is just like -- steve -- host: stephen brooklyn sins as a text. -- sends us a text. quoting i saw on tv or a read on the internet -- of years culmination of a decline in a truly curious and honest quest to arm oneself with the truth. it is only going to get worse. denise in olympia, washington,, a democratic caller. caller: good morning and happy new year to all americans. aagree that information is good thing, and i think americans suffer not only from the pandemic, but we are suffering from a lack of information from the administration. said thatays

information goes a long way. and i think we have suffered from a need to know and for you for --r find out, and suffering from a do as i say or else administration. and that is sad, and i think that is really bad when an administration one give information to americans. they have held back. the people that we need to hear from in the federal government. , won't honormunity subpoenas, and that is why people have had to make up their own information and disinformation. everyone is keeping safe. thank you. mark from new jersey text us to say, "the number one political story for 2020 is the

fact that trump got rid of every environmental regulation and extracted more's a fuels -- more fossil fuels, bringing the human race closer to extension. the covid-19 plague is directly related to climate change number which should not be a political issue. year,ou look back on this what political story stands out to you? caller: greta, how are you doing this morning? host: good morning. caller: yesterday after listening to the senate when they were arguing about bringing up that $2000 check bill, and hearing in the back -- hearing the back-and-forth on that, it dawned on me, even though this is not headlined in any newspaper, you know, throughout the year the hypocrisy should have been a headline somewhere.

it has become our mainstream, from the top to the bottom. we wholeheartedly embrace it now. it's come out with the normal course of operation. i guess we could call it the u. m.o. it has been solidified, it has been made religious, and our supreme spirit. from this year forward, i guess we cannot believe anything anybody says anymore. before,e the man said it is the beginning of the end. the saddest thing is nobody seems to notice. they just ignore this terrible change. thank you. rob is a republican. good morning. whiler: a gentleman on a

ago says we need more government, more government is the answer. what is truth? everybody wants to get to the truth. bu the truth ist we are not digging into what happened in china. a government with a high-tech lab lets out a virus and that is the truth, the government. a government lab lets out a virus and goes around the world this days and destroys -- looks like a weapon to me, it is not just a natural virus. another thing, everybody -- oh, whereou guys show clips china was welding doors shut, not letting people out of their condos or apartments. that's good government control, lock everybody down. another thing that is a fallacy, the doctors -- there are many different qualities of masks,

and everything is walking around with things over their face. that does not fix anything. you go to a store with a mask on and as somebody picks up a can of peas. they might have the virus. they put it back. somebody else comes along and picks it up. how does a mask fix that? everybody falls in the ditch. one person says masks, that will fix everything. i would like to challenge you guys to get a hold of a guy named her dr. shiva, an m.i.t. graduate. he says it is about the immune system. you have to get vitamin d, a and zinc into your immune system and get it in order to fight off diseases like this. and nobody talks about that from the health aspect. nobody. i challenge you to get a hold of this dr.. octor. he is on youtube. he is the only one who has spoken about how to help

ourselves in between getting vaccinations. host: david is a democrat in michigan. david, go ahead. caller: happy holidays. i am very concerned with the coronavirus going on. theof the main things with covid relief act we just passed is -- today is going to be the last day giving out for everybody. know, you go back and forth about the stimulus checks, bat at the end of -- but at the end of today, anybody who has contracted the virus, who works, it will be dependent on the employer, if they want to extend hose rights to employees to

march 31 of next year. have been would actually helpful for people who have to go out on the front lines and worry about putting food on the table and procuring ppe and protecting our families. you have to pull out personal time now, whatever you need, to take care of your family now with the government not having your back. you have to rely on your employer to opt in on this and how do you know who will take care of us? host: the president put his third supreme court justice on the bench following the death of ruth bader ginsburg. here is from the confirmation hearing, an exchange between judge amy coney barrett and the top democrat on the senate judiciary committee, dianne feinstein of california. [video clip] >> it was justice scalia's view that roe was wrongly decided. >> sender, i understand why you

are asking the question, but again, i cannot pre-commit or say yes i am going in with some agenda, because i am not. i do not have an agenda to try to overrule that case. i have an agenda to stick to the rule of law and decide cases as they come. senator feinstein: as you person, i do not know if you will answer this one either -- do you agree with justice scalia's view that roe can and should be overturned by the supreme court? >> i think that my answer is the it isbecause that's -- if a case that is litigated, its contours could come up again. they do come up, they came up last term before the court, so i think what the standard is, that's a contentious issue. i know one reason why it would be comforting to you to have an answer, but i cannot express

views on cases or precommit to pushing a case any particular way. senator feinstein: that makes it difficult for me. and i think for other women, on this committee because it is an important case and it affects a lot of people, millions and millions of women. and you could be a very important vote. i had hoped you would say, as a person, that you have a lovely family, you understand the implications of family life and you should be proud of that -- i'm proud of you for that -- but my position is a little different. you are going on the biggest court of this land. host: amy coney barrett, her confirmation hearing, now justice amy coney barrett, from this past fall. you can see it on our website, c-span.org. is that one of your top

political stories of 2020? nick in canton, ohio, a republican. caller: are you there? host: yep. good morning. caller: amy coney barrett is extremely impressive to me. she is nonpartisan. she's not pressured by her gender or by anybody else's beliefs. she acts solely on the intention of morale, from what i can tell. [sigh]- you know, it's -- if we could just get the rest of the people that are working in congress and in the senate and in other aspects of d.c. to have the mindset -- have the same mindset and not pick a side, i think things it would go smoother and easier for everybody in this country. host: stephen in battle creek, michigan, an independent.

caller: how are you? host: good morning. ex-first'm an lieutenant in the national guard and i was in the service during the first iranian crisis, so of course i believe we will head for another one. let's hunker down. first of all, i wante to have everybody in the nation stop and give all the maintenance workers, electric workers, plumbers, the medical workers, food care workers, bus drivers, everybody who makes everything work -- if you are working on a person in the hospital, and all of a sudden you had no power, what could you do? nothing. you have to wait on the maintenance man to give the order to put in the order for somebody to go and fix it. meanwhile, everybody is laying on the table dying. ok, let's talk about this here problem with trump challenging

things. let's go back to the 1990's. you remember jeb bush. and? yes, caller: and you remember his father was beside him during the election in florida? host: ok, your point? caller: and taking over the fbi. ok. [indiscernible] my point is -- host: we are having trouble hearing you. sam in bakersfield saying, "the top story, trump is going away. now we can work on the other issues his presidency has brought to the surface. i have a feeling 2021 will be a good year." here's a democratic caller from colorado. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i am a disabled veteran from the vietnam war, born in mexico. a social worker.

i graduated from san diego state university. now i'm an activist. i would like for congress to scotlandjune hart from -- recommend her for a nobel peace prize award immediately. covid-19, which i s covid 64, because she discovered it in 1964. everybody ignores her. i think that they ignore her because she was a female. school to- she left help raise her family. .he started working in a lab first, she started with a microscope. then she graduated to an

electric microscope. you can find her story on youtube. covid-19 was not discovered in 20, it was discovered in 1974. -- 96 to four. host: -- 1964. host: good morning. caller: i think that the top story is the news media, the corruption of the news media and how it has affected the outcome of the election. i believe the election was fixed. also, we have known that there was a problem with the vot er system for years. whyi don't understand during a pandemic, the whole country shut down. businesses schools,

an election we have during a pandemic? back to the press. trump did not run against biden, he ran against the press. the revolution -- said a distortion or a lie or manipulation of the truth is like a counterfeit coin, it [indiscernible] creates the fake coin and passes it to an innocent person, who spreads it around as if it were the truth. that's exactly what this press

has done. saying the press is the top story of 2020 for her. cassie in fremont california, saying "education. students are getting the benefit of parents a very involved in their educationd ue to the pandemic -- due to the pandemic." we also marked a vaccination. dr. anthony fauci here getting his vaccination last week. [video clip] >> many are saying, if dr. fauci gets the vaccine, i will get the vaccine. tell us why it is important. dr. fauci: it is important for two reasons for me. one, i am an attending physician here, so i do see patients. more important is as a symbol to the rest of the country that i inl extreme confidence the safety and efficacy of this vaccine.

and want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated, so we can have protection in this country that would end this pandemic. thank you, dr. fauci, for coming today. any last-minute questions or concerns? dr. fauci: no. >> ok. let's get a good intramuscular injection here. host: dr. anthony fauci receiving the vaccination last week. your top story of 2020, millie, a democratic caller. caller: i think there are numerous stories, but i will focus on one or two. the first thing i would say is the -- of donald trump, which you might think it is odd that i'm a democrat saying that, but

i think he has been so successful in eroding our norms and institutions. he's like a one-man demolition derby. and he's assaulted the truth. our democracy. i think our democracy is hanging by a thread, because of all of andbrainwashing disinformation that has been perpetrated by the president and the republican party, who are complicit and co-conspirators in the truth andn democracy. and i think the other part that is frightening is the loyalty of all his supporters that ignore

how much our democracy is at risk and in peril . and i think that is a weghtening, um, you know -- have a democratically elected president, mr. biden. i do not think it will change much because people have such a hard line view on the world, that it does not seem like it will change anytime soon. senator benorning, fass of nebraska tweeting out, or excuse me, craig kaplan tweeting out that ben fass said on january 6, the electoral college certification of the 2020 election, "it seems useful to explain in public why i will not participate in a project to overturn the election and why i

have been urging my colleagues to also reject this dangerous ploy. all the clever arguments in the world will not change the fact that this effort is designed to disenfranchise millions of americans, simply because they voted for somebody in a different party. we ought to be better than that. if we normalize this, we will turn american politics into the hatfield's and mccoy's, an endless blood food, a house -- feud, a house divided." the washington times talks about the electoral college voting next week on january 6. here is how congress will count the votes. must have open field certificates from each state that contains a record of their electoral votes. the votes are brought into the chamber in a box by representatives of both chambers, who read the results and do an official count. the president of the senate, vice president mike pence,

presides and will declare the winner. the constitution requires congress to meet and count the electoral votes. if there is a tie, the house decides the presidency. with each contribution having one vote. that has happened since the 1800s. and mr. biden's win over donald trump was decisive. how does the session unfold? the chambers meet to cap the votes. if the vice president cannot preside, the pro tempore will do so or the longest-serving senator, chuck grassley of iowa. the officer opens and presents of the certificates of the votes in the political order of the states. what if there is an objection, which josh hawley is promising to do? any lawmaker can object to a vote on any grounds. but the presiding officer will not hear the objection unless it is brought in in writing and signed by a member of the house and senate. if there is a joint request,

than in suspense and the house and senate go into separate sessions to consider it. for the objection to be sustained, both chambers must agree to do it by a super majority vote. if they do not agree, the original torah votes are counted. the last time it happened was in 2005, when senator jones of ohio and boxer of california, objected by claiming that there were voting irregularities. both chambers rejected it. it was only the second time such a vote had occurred." on rules of mike pence wednesday -- on the role of mike pence on wednesday. who role is an awkward one, will be charged with announcing joe biden's victory once the votes are counted. it will be tense for the former indiana congressman because his boss has refused to concede, but

it will not be the first vice president to be put in an uncomfortable situation. in 2001, al gore presided over the counting of the 2000 presidential election that he narrowly lost to george w. bush. he had to gavel several democrats'objections out of order. in 2016, mr. biden presided over the counts that declared donald trump the winner and also had fromhout down those shouts democrats who also had no support." i willawley said, " object on january 6 on the behalf of millions who deserve to be heard." the house will gavel in in about 10 minutes. until then, your top political story of 2020. a caller in athens, georgia. an independent. caller: thank you for blessing me with the opportunity to live this life, lord, and continue to bless the whole world. in jesus' name, i pray.

how are you? host: i am well. happy new year. caller: how much do i love c-span? host: i do not know. caller: i love it immensely. i'm so glad i can participate in closing out the year of "washington journal" 2020. there is a litany of top stories. james in maryland. my man in the smoky mountains. and a host of other callers have been great. i get upset with the callers, then i am blown away and so impressed with the information that they bring forth. thoseocial dilemma, watching above washington journal," you have to watch and know that the social media is the real problem. onto the top story, the impeachment of donald j. trump. you started the show with that and you are absolutely right. we start from the beginning. after he beat the impeachment,

the coronavirus miraculously came out of a lab, and he beat that by sending out stimulus checks. he said, the macon people are not going to pay for this. so he sent out the stimulus checks and sideswiped the debacle, but he did not extend it until after the election. the lawyer has been about removing donald j. trump. and greta, i am done. i cannot wait for 2021. god bless america. cannot wait to see you at the table. thank you. talk to you later. host: ray in kentucky, a democratic caller. hi. caller: good morning. host: good morning. asler: i would like to say far as anthony fauci goes, i do not believe anything that man says. and at the end of the day, i have a choice. a choice on whether i want to be vaccinated, not the government,

not anyone else. and it's just terrible. with -- justl that the mitch mcconnell, trying to stop $2000 that could help numerous families through this, and yet i live in a state, kentucky, which is one of the poorest states. bashir -- bend shear, that is what is wrong with this state. people need to be out of office, go to the rest home, mitch mcconnell, and live out the rest of his life and let people live their lives. host: the new york times headline, "mitch mcconnell crushes efforts for stimulus checks." he insisted that lawmakers would only consider an omnibus bill that included the $2000 checks

and other issues that the president demanded congress including revoking legal protections for social media platforms. democrats will not pick up either matter, dooming any chance of such a bill to pass. marcy in north carolina, a republican. hi. caller: yeah, the last two or three callers kind of hit on wanted.ante it's time for the church to be a church. we are scared of the virus. it's time for our spiritual leaders to get out in the communities and bring us together. we are not as far apart as the media wants you to think. you know, it americans, we -- know, americans, we love each other. and we have people divided according to political parties. it's time for the church to be

the church and get out. we have gotten to where we do not even know our neighbors and we judge people according to whether we are democrats or republicans. donald trump is not my spiritual leader. joe biden is not my spiritual leader. my faith is in god, not politics. change is going to come from the bottom. we have been so corrupt, we have to have a hard change. our politics -- we do not put our faith in politics, we put our faith in god. and he will see us through. we have to love each other because we were created in his image. host: ok, we will get in a few more calls before the house gavels in. they are not in washington, but will return on sunday for the opening day of the 117th. 7:00 a.m.ge begins at

and continues throughout the afternoon, into the evening, right here on c-span. on c-span2, watch the opening day of the senate. and also on c-span.org. or download the free radio app. jerry in california, a democratic caller. caller: good morning. ip political story of 2020, guess that is in the eye of the beholder. there are so many stories, most of them negative, but i would like to put one positive story out. here we are at the end of this year, once again, greta, you have not aged one bit. you look the same as many years ago. and today i realized how you did that. somebody mentioned the 700 club earlier. i think you have been drinking those protein shakes. host: [laughter] caller: that is the only thing that could make you not aged.

keep up the great work. host: that is not what i am doing. [laughter] fromublican on the line nebraska. caller: good morning. thank you for what you do, greta. i'm upset with our people right now. fortenberry, for sure i'm ashamed of them. and i am ashamed of the media for what they have done to our president since 2016. hates why there is so much in our country. president trump, i believe, will go down as the best potus. and i pray for our country. me when wesetting to have people like nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. i'm a republican, but i was brought up democrat. and my dad and mother would flip in their graves if they knew what they democrats wereg doing

now. re doing. happy new year. host: happy new year. arnold in tennessee. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: i am doing well. your top story? caller: my top story, i guess it would be climate change. whatve got to treat it as it is. it's a crisis that cannot be denied. if we do not respond to it as a crisis, will be facing extinction. that's a new peace sign being promoted now. it's the shape of an "x." it looks like an hourglass. it's going to replace the old peace sign, because if we do not handle the climate crisis, we

are going to die. host: arnold in tennessee. dennis in louisville, kentucky. what stands out to you this year? caller: looking back on the year, one thing i do not understand is people getting unemployment right now -- i do not understand, people are getting $600, now $300 extra, plus what they would normally make. id how they need assistance, do not understand. if everybody who is leadoff is i've gotn extra $300, to work everyday and i do not get nothing. host: do you -- is that the top story of 2020? caller: not the top story. i was going to say it is the mutation that actually started in denmark. i was watching dr. john campbell from the u.k., and he was talking about the mink mutation

from denmark. host: dennis in kentucky. peter from chicago says, "the greater story of the last 50 years is peace breaking out in the middle east." michael, a republican, go ahead. caller: the reason why we are in such a big debt is because the money is going in republicans' pockets and the pockets of democrats. we cannot make it on $7.25 an hour. there are no jobs because everybody is shutting down. they are moving to another country because the white house, the democrats and the republicans -- the governor and the mayor we got. how did they expect us not to do that? especially when we have killings, people living on the streets and in their cars. host: michael, the homelessness, the unemployment, that is your top story? caller: yes. host: michael in louisiana. covid 19, which

strain relates a flu that shut down the world. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] new us as they select a speaker and both bodies again new work with live coverage sunday at noon eastern. watch the house on c-span and the senate on c-span two watch online at c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. >> earlier today president trump

spoke on his administration's accomplishments in 20 20, including the response to covid-19, vaccine development and the economy. here is a look. face ofump: in the great challenges this year americans showed grit, strength, tenacity and resolve. together we achieved historic victories like nobody thought possible. to defeat the china virus we launched the largest mobilization since world war ii. we transformed our factories to build tens of thousands of ventilators and millions and millions of masks, virtually overnight. nobody thought it could be done. we ignored the experts who demanded open borders and we shut down travel from china and europe to protect our citizens and we built the wall. we pioneered groundbreaking new therapies