and the host of the steve gruber show, steve gruber. be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. next.ngton journal" is ♪ good morning, everyone. it is january 1 2021. .appy new year are you optimistic or pessimistic. if you are feeling good, dial in at (202) 748-8000. if you're pessimistic, (202) 748-8001. you can also text us with your first name, city and state or go ortwitter @cspanwj facebook.com/c-span.

we are asking you about whether or not you are optimistic or pessimistic. we begin with joe biden and his the newl biden joining year's eve festivities last night on abc. here is their interview. [video clip] as ouring president-elect joe biden and dr. jill biden. >> happy new year to you and everyone there. congratulations. >> thank you. >> we are here with essential workers, front-line workers in times square and around the nation. what would you like to say to them tonight? aside, my mother used to have an expression. braver resides in every heart and someday it will be summoned. people were honored tonight. it was summoned and they stepped

up and they were brave and they did so much. they risk their lives and have done so much. we owe them. >> we are so grateful for everything they did. they left their families and their homes so we could be safe. all americans appreciate what they did for us. >> they brought the country together. it is a big deal. i know you've both had your vaccines. what is your message to america about taking it? >> you have to take it. it does not hurt. i promise. as long as everyone -- >> that is saying something. >> it does not hurt. did not have any aftereffects. everybody has to take it so we can all be safe. 2021, what are your thoughts and views on what you hope for in this new year?

>> i am more optimistic about america's janssens -- america's chances that i have ever been. we have the most productive workers. we have found vaccines that will work. we have to get more out quicker. we are in a situation where we have to step up and lead the nation. there is never been a single thing america has been a naval -- has been unable to ever, no matter how drastic it has been. america can do anything. i am confident we will come back even stronger than we were before. >> we certainly will. before we move on, because the ball will drop soon, what is new year's eve like normally at your home? >> is normally pretty quiet. jill --pending it with

our kids are all grown so we are on the phone with them. at 12:00 we all try to get through at 12:00. i of usually just jill and late. when the kids were little, the whole family. this is a special night for both of us. >> things will get better, america. >> well said. thank you for joining us and happy new year to both of you. >> keep the faith. >> here it comes. >> they never work right. here is to better luck in the new year. thanks. bidenpresident-elect joe and the incoming first lady on their outlook for 2021. john and philadelphia is feeling pessimistic about the year. tell us why. caller: i am the first caller.

thank you. i do not know what to say. optimistic, pessimistic. look at 2020. nothing is fixed yet. let's hope for the best. of thisother year craziness. host: craziness with the pandemic? caller: it is not just the pandemic. it has been the police shootings. -- there's a lot of stuff going on on the news that is keeping us -- we've been in since march. i had a panic attack and went shopping when i saw what was going on before this. we hunkered down in philadelphia and have not been out much in a year. there is nothing to do.

it all comes from social media is the new world. adapting to that is a new thing. i would like to be optimistic. before this pandemic, everything was a lot of fun. you could feel the pressure now. is a pain in the butt. host: bruce in cleveland. good morning. caller: good morning, america. how are you doing, greta? host: i am doing well. you are feeling good. why? caller: yes i am because we have had the worst year i have ever seen in the existence of america. i have never seen anything like this in my life. i am 66 years old. i am a military veteran. everything that happened this year, especially the pandemic,

and we had an administration that live from the top. he lied all of this year about the pandemic. he downplayed it. now he is trying to overthrow .he democracy of our country all i can call it is the fake things he has been saying about he won the election. biden toing for joe bring our country together and unite us again as a nation. host: we heard from the president yesterday. the white house delivering a video message after he returned to the white house from his vacation in florida. here is he had to say. [video clip] >> in the face of great challenges americans showed incredible tenacity and resolve and 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 and treatments and we saved millions of american lives. were toldver again we it would be impossible to deliver a vaccine by the end of the year. all of the experts it unthinkable. trump is exaggerating. it cannot happen. we did it long before the end of the year. they said it would take a medical miracle and that is exactly what it is. years from now they will be talking about it, they will be

talking about this great thing we did with the vaccines. amazingcedented, medical miracle. normally developing a vaccine takes up to 10 years. thanks to operation warp speed we developed a vaccine in just nine months. we have already begun a nationwide vaccination program and we are sending the vaccine all over the world. the world will benefit, we will benefit come and everybody is calling to thank me. our most vulnerable citizens are already receiving the vaccine and millions of doses are being shipped all across our country. i next year the vaccine will be available to every american. shortly thereafter it will be delivered worldwide. we will end the pandemic once and for all. this is one of the most extraordinary scientific and medical feats in history. we can never let people forget

where it came from and how it came. ,e are very proud to be honored and all of the people that work so hard, we have to be remembered for what has been done. i want to thank all of the workers and scientists and doctors and members of the military who helped make operation warp speed possible. before the pandemic we built the greatest economy in the history of the world. we are doing it again. we have built two great economies, before and after. we passed $3 trillion in relief, the largest financial aid package in history. through the paycheck protection program we saved or supported more than 51 million american jobs and are doing numbers like nobody has seen before, including having the highest stock market in the history of the world. i froze student loan payments, stop evictions, suspended payroll taxes.

we have/the employment rate from 14.7% down to 16.7%. a lot of people thought 14.7 could be 32% or 45%. now we're down to 6.7% and heading a lot lower. we made it dramatically better than experts predicted a few months ago. our economy is growing at the most rapid rate ever recorded. 33.4% last quarter and much faster than the nations of europe. nobody can compete with us in terms of going down last and less and-- going down up fastest. no matter america's challenge we always rise to the occasion. we are bringing manufacturing back home to america. we have secured our borders and paused immigration. we lower drug prices for the first time in 51 years, and after years of foreign wars we

are signing historic peace deals in the middle east. it is all ending in the middle east. we have to hope it keeps going. it is so easy if you know what you are doing. in this season of joy, americans have so much to be grateful for. we are all blessed to live in the greatest country ever to exist on the face of the earth, and we have made it greater than ever before. as long as we remain loyal to our nation, devoted to our citizens, and faithful to almighty god, we know the best is yet to come. god bless you and god bless america. host: president trump at the white house yesterday. are you optimistic or pessimistic about the year ahead? john in boston, go ahead. caller: good morning, greta. happy new year to you. host: happy new year. caller: i am optimistic for a lot of reasons. i've been voting since the first day i was eligible 60 years ago.

i have not heard anybody -- one is ie things i'm concerned hear all of our politicians blame china for what happened in this last horrible year. not to to be able to hug my great-grandchildren and children and to be so careful. i think across the country there to show how just much we are divided or unified, i would like to see a special election on whether or not we states livesunited the way china lives and see what happens with that. it is important for us to get together again as the united

states of america and americans. i was a registered democrat my whole life. i fought for union benefits for years. i have been retired for a while. after the brett kavanaugh reluctantly, just because it was so divided, i had to change my affiliation with the democratic party and fill with republicans. -- and go with republicans. i did not go with republicans. i voted for trump. listening to of politicians who can smoothly lie to you. host: i will leave it there and go to peggy in piedmont, south carolina. peggy? your outlook for next year -- for this year. we are in this year. 2021?

i think with joe biden being in office i think it will be a bad country. i voted for trump and i will again. i thought he done great for this country. host: you heard the president talking about the economy. morgan stanley's analysts are --dicting 2021 local outlook morgan stanley projects strong bybal gdp for 2021, led emerging markets followed by reopening economies in the u.s. in your. that is their prediction for the economy. a slew of new economic problems. -- the oldvid-19

-- maybe even harder to solve. one of them they point to his grand deals like nafta under bill clinton or the trans-pacific partnership under barack obama have become unpopular across the political spectrum. they also say in the piece this morning that the issue of tech companies, the big cross atlantic tensions will be .ompetition and tech policy you can find that story on foreign policy.com. one more on the economy from yahoo! finance. jobless claims another 787,000 americans while new unemployment claims last week. on the economy, are you feeling optimistic or pessimistic or any other policy issue?

diana in north carolina, how are you feeling? caller: i am feeling wonderful. i am so optimistic. i think president-elect joe biden has the most diverse panel with him we have ever had in history. i do think donald trump did some good. i am independent. did 10 good he did do he things worse. that is my opinion. i am optimistic. we have a virus, we have a vaccine. i believe what he says. , it is notgether like in the old days when your neighbor needed something you are there for them. people do not do that anymore.

as a nation, if we stay strong, we can get over this. i am very optimistic. thank you for having me on an happy new year. host: happy new year. listen to dr. fauci in a conversation with california governor gavin newsom with his prediction when the u.s. might achieve heard immunity. here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> if we go through the priority people. we started with health-care workers and people in nursing homes. the less -- next level were 75 and older and people critical to the running of society. by the time we get to the priority people, it likely will be the beginning of april. i would say end of march, beginning of april. let's say in april it will be who season, namely anybody

wants to get vaccinated can get vaccinated. if we then diligently vaccinate people in april, may, june, july, we will noticeably get a degree of protection approaching herd immunity, which i believe nobody knows what absolute herd immunity is with coronavirus. we know what it is for measles because we have decades of experience. i would say it is somewhere between 70% and 85%. i believe if we do the kind of vaccine through april, may, june, july, which by the time we get to the early fall we will have enough herd immunity to get back some strong semblance of normality. schools, theaters, sports events, restaurants. i believe if we do it correctly, we will be there by the early fall. fauci on hishony

outlook for the government response to the coronavirus. the new york times reports vaccinations lag as tackle logistical woes. the resources are stressed and hospitals are getting little federal help. their editorial board this morning writes there are avoidable missteps on the vaccines. this is what they write. "the implementation of the shops is complicated by a number of factors, including cold storage requirements which necessitate special training. training takes time and money, both of which are in short supply. some hospitals have said they do not know which vaccines they will achieve or how many doses or when. the federal tracking system that monitors vaccine shipments and a chain of communication amongst federal, state, local, and health officials has been disorganized."

write the situation is made -- how familiar the underlying narrative is. poor coordination combined with the lack of funding for state and local entities has resulted in a string of avoidable missteps and delays. we've been here before with testing, with shutdowns, with contact tracing, with genome surveillance. you can read more from the new york times editorial board today. here's a text from canon pennsylvania. "lockdowns, mast mandates, recession, 2021 is not looking good." dana in maryland. what do you think? ohio whohe veteran in spoke should not be putting trump down. i have a son and a father that is a veteran.

he has done so much for them. my dad no longer has to drive two hours to the doctor. hospital there where he lives. that this year will be horrible. say president to to him. he is not my president. my president is president trump and it always will be. this was a horrible choice for he people and i wish would've had four more years and we could have seen a lot of stuff done right. host: in the very beginning part 6,this year, january congress will certify the

electoral college results. , theygton post front page report the vice president asked a judge late thursday to reject the lawsuit that aim to expand his power to use of congressional ceremony to overturn the presidential election, arguing he is not the right person to sue over the issue. this will come as a disappointment to supporters of president trump who hoped pence would attempt to reject some of joe biden's electoral college votes and recognize votes for trump instead when congress meets to certify the november election. the filing came in response to a lawsuit from a republican from texas and a number of republicans in arizona that argued in 1887 law that governs how congress certifies presidential elections is unconstitutional. the suit argues the constitution gives the vice president in his role of president of the senate full discretion to determine whether electors put forward by the states are valid.

senator josh hawley along with house republicans plans to object when the state certification results are announced on wednesday, january 6. his objection will then have to heard by- have to be both chambers separately. in axios, they had a headline this morning. mitch mcconnell calls january 6 certification his most consequential vote and they said there an extra ordinary conference call with senate republicans. the majority leader says his vote certifying joe biden's victory will be the most consequential i've ever cast. the big picture came in the wake of josh hawley's define mitch mcconnell's wishes and declaring he will object to certifying the votes. mitch mcconnell had urged senators not to force the vote, which he believes will put

republicans up for election in 2022 and a horrible position, forcing them to choose between defying donald trump and undermining democracy. brenda in houston, texas. how are you feeling about this year? caller: i am pessimistic. let me tell you why, greta. given the personality or spirit of president-elect biden, i know he is going to have his attitude, i believe he is going to have this attitude of let's get along, let's go along to get along. i do not want him to have that attitude. i want all cards on the table, so to speak. president -- trump, i will not ever call him president. i want trump brought up on every

charge they can be leveled against him, starting with -- i wish we could do it for helsinki, that debacle where he chose vladimir putin over america intelligence, and then this virus thing, and he is blaming china? i am an american, i do not expect china to prevent that disease from coming over here to america. that was his job. stop saying it is china's responsibility. never -- let me repeat that. republicans trust who support donald trump. the lincoln project republicans and others anti-trump groups, i embrace them and love them with all my heart. if these are honest people. greta, thank you so much. i am pessimistic. hopefully i will be able to tell you something different later

this year. host: brenda. tom in connecticut. optimistic. caller: happy new year. i am 75. i have not had the covid. experts.listen to i watched gavin newsom yesterday. he looks like death warmed over. i lived through the polio epidemic as a child. woman whoke the last she had such a closed minded attitude. the democrat solution is to pull down monuments and band history and take off traditional books. schoolteachers living in connecticut were financially

bankrupt. we have a total democrat administration and they are all wealthy. you can look up the state pensions. we have 200 retired connecticut state university professors making over $200,000 a year. senator blumenthal has a $68,000 state of connecticut pension and the best state health care imaginable. and it will be our risingrump or star senator josh hawley. you have a healthy and happy new year. better days are coming. host: are you going to watch on wednesday when they certify the electoral college in congress in washington? caller: absolutely. wasreat-great-grandfather in abraham lincoln and andrew johnson's cabinet. i will not reveal the identity.

what trump has suffered through ,ails to what president lincoln where they pull the statue down in boston by the educated -- the uneducated student fringe. this mentality, now the democrats are busted. the proof will be in the next watchesration when one president-elect biden speak. he is just not with it. his wife is not a doctor. she got an honorary doctorate of education. i read her thesis. she should have used spellcheck. .ost: not a medical doctor before wednesday certification is the first day of the 117th congress.

new eastern time the house and senate will come into session and swear in new members, as well as hold a vote for speaker of the house. you can watch the house on c-span and the senate on c-span2. our coverage begins with "washington journal" and your thoughts on the new congress at 7:00 eastern time. you can also watch on the website, c-span.org, or download the free c-span radio app. in addition to your calls this morning on whether or not your optimistic or pessimistic, we will talk with the role and conservative talk show host around the country this morning to get their take on 2021 as well. joining us is arnie arnesen with wnhn radiodio in -- in concorde, new hampshire. thank you for your time.

we have little technical difficulties. we will get that sorted out. keep taking your calls and then will go back to arnie arnesen. let's hear from bobby in alabama. how are you doing? caller: happy new year. deeply pessimistic. i appreciate the opportunity to talk about this. by virtually any statistical measure whatsoever, is absolutely disastrous what we are seeing across the country. life, wesure of human are seeing exploding levels of addiction, we are seeing mental health problems and profound mental health problems exploding the numbers. cohabitation, divorce, single-parent households, abortion, personal debt, corporate jet, national debt. all of these are absolutely exploding off the charts and never seen before. we are seeing a disparity of wealth in this nation where the

1% have pillaged and plundered the harder wealth of the average income american person to the point where it would make the vanderbilts and the carnegie's, j.p. morgan blush to see this disparity of wealth. we have seen just during this epidemic, i read the other day, three american men have gained $1 trillion in wealth just during this period of time. the entire nation is in absolute weos and crisis, and i think are witnessing people not acknowledging this. they have turned to internecine squabbles and fights such as black lives matter. everyone is turning on each other. it is the cliche of the roman empire. it is true. cliches are there for a reason. we are witnessing self-indulgence, immorality, these are unparalleled in history. the nation was formed by

high-minded secular idealists, enlightenment imbued thinking such as jefferson and franklin. deeply immoral flock men themselves, while pontificating about the rights of humanity they held slaves themselves. carrying was notably out statutory rape for years on a person he owned, a person of color. it is absolute disastrous. enter joe biden, and enfeebled elderly man who is in apparatchik of the oligarchs themselves. they put him in place. it is a dire time. host: bobby in alabama. here is a viewer who text us to say "feeling optimistic the new leadership of abiding presidency to heal assassination. good riddance to the trump presidency -- to heal us as a

nation. good riddance to the trump presidency. here his new your message and contrast that with joe biden's." good morning. what is your outlook for this year? caller: i am pessimistic only because we are all still alive. let me give you this cap yacht. -- let me give you this caveat. the country is not all one people. china is all one people. americations outside of is all one people so when they tell them to pull together they all pulled together. bent where if you go against the white establishment, because they -- just to keep whiteness. they will never give in.

republicans are traitors. donald trump is the first confederate president. he wants to keep the confederate monuments. he wants to keep everything from the confederacy. everything he is doing is for that. the republicans to be sworn in are all confederates. they would turn against their country to keep whiteness. will america realize that is what it is about. host: work your calls coming up. joining us on the phone is arnie arnesen, syndicated host, to talk about this year. how are you feeling?

optimistic or pessimistic about 2021? guest: let's say i am holding my breath. i was going to say to you happy not 2020. that tells you where i am at this point. i am amazed at the voter turnout in 2020. joe biden got more votes than any president ever, and donald trump got 74 million, more than any other president ever. people were engaged and wanted to participate in a democracy and that is a celebration of who we are. what is going on on january 6 is frustrating with josh hawley at 140 gop members of congress challenging the vote. i'm not worried that will actually mean joe biden is not sworn in, but it does say to me they are continuing to massage the mythology that this election was stolen, and it clearly was not. when you talk to republicans around the country and there

secretary of state, they will tell you the same thing. oft is my concern, the level instability into 2021. i am hopeful and empathetic president can tap down some of that anger. host: what approach should president-elect biden take to republican opposition? guest: republican opposition to what? that is part of the problem. mitch mcconnell has always said he is basically opposed to everything. i do not think you deal with republican opposition. i think it is what can you do for the american people? if you keep your focus not on opposition but on how you can heal, you can repeal a lot of the executive orders donald trump did. you can move a lot of executive orders yourself if republicans are not accommodating. that will be known on the first week of january because of what is happening in georgia. we are such a divided nation. nancy pelosi has a majority in

the house. are waiting for two senators in georgia to decide the fate of the u.s. senate, but there is still a lot joe biden can do. you and i both know personnel and policy, just replacing people at the top will make a huge difference in what you can do to accommodate a lot of the heard from the pandemic, the health care hurt and economic hurt and you can do a lot by spending money on infrastructure. that money on infrastructure can go to all 50 states and create a real economic shot in the arm. there is a wonderful statistic that says for every dollar the government spends in infrastructure, it stimulates six dollars and the private sector. can you imagine what you can do with an economy if you're able to do the kind of infrastructure needs and respond to them? in that way i am hopeful. i do not want to focus on the negative. right now the gop is focused on that. i want to focus on what biden

can do, and what he needs to do is not look at party but at people. host: how are you feeling when you read the washington times headline, mccarthy says republicans putting together a house coalition. mr. mccarthy, the california republican and leader of republicans in the house says his team will use the strategy of coalition building to run the floor despite being in the usually powerless minority. here's a quote from him "they have bigger majority last time, there were many times we could win the argument on the floor. our ideas are stronger and ours is about putting together a coalition," he said. the only part of the democratic congress that grew was the alexandria ocasio-cortez side, so they will divide. you will find republicans united, democrats divided. guest: let me say something. a lot of those republicans that have to face reelection in 2022. let's go for california.

surprisingsaw a shift from democrat to republican. four house seats flip. those republicans from california recognize that if they go to extreme, if they do not deal with the health care issue, the pandemic issue, i think mccarthy is wrong. he does not have that strong a hold on the gop. we are also going to see how donald trump behaves when he leaves the white house. right now what we know is he has a huge pot of money. he may want to hang out with parler and newsmax. what he has in front of him is time in your court systems and that is because there are a lot of things they are investigating with him. the question is if they distracted donald trump still have a stranglehold on the gop? i don't think so. let me also say the republican governors in the 50 states know they desperately need help from washington. if mccarthy thinks he can stop joe biden from sending help to his republican governors and the

republican states, they are not spirit they have to go back to the -- they are nuts. they have to go back to the people and the governors will look at them and say our state is hurting because you stopped money from coming to us. that is not a strategy for winning in 22. i think mccarthy is wrong and does not have a stranglehold on the gop the way he claims to have. host: what you think should be on the agenda first for the joe biden administration? guest: repealing the executive orders of donald trump, number one. number two, he has to do with the vaccination issue. the pandemic is the economy, everyone. the pandemic is the economy. we are killing our health care system, we are devastating our doctors and nursing is. this is important. we have to focus on getting out the vaccines as quickly as possible and encouraging people to social distance and wear masks.

if he has to help the restaurant and bar industry shut down, you cannot have a drink and wear masks, you cannot socially distant and go to restaurants but we need our bars and restaurants open when the pandemic is over. what we know about how you bring people together? how do you heal? you share a meal. that means i want those restaurants hermetically sealed until this pandemic is over. i want to support them so they can reopen. i want to support their staff. we need to do something about the restaurant and bar industry. they did not get anything in this bill. pox onn us for not -- a us for not doing it. we need to make sure that industry is addressed and we address the vaccine. if he can do those things out-of-the-box plus repeal those executive orders, we will already begin to feel a difference in this country. i think that is important. there is a story that has not been focused on on what happened in 2020 that needs to be looked

at. they have long-term consequences. obviously we know what happened with the court. we saw what happened when rbg died and amy coney barrett got shoved into place in the middle of an election, which is unheard of. the other story of 2020, joe biden may have won but he did not have coattails. you saw state legislators not flipping around united states for the first time since 1900. on average 12 state legislative bodies flip. this year only two. you know which two? my state of new hampshire they went from a democratic senate and a democratic house and they went republican. why am i talking about this? because this is the census year. this will be the year we begin to look at redistricting. in some ways, from my perspective, the tragedy of 20/20 is what happened at the state legislative level. that will impact politics in

because thea decade supreme court has said partisan gerrymandering is ok with them, and now with republicans controlling silly legislative bodies around the united states, we are going to see a massage, partisan divide because what is going to happen over the next 10 years. host: the attitude with arnie arneson airs monday through friday from noon to 1:00 eastern focusing on policy and politics on wnhn in concorde, new hampshire. thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you and good luck, everyone. thousand your seatbelts. 2021 will be quite interesting. host: let's get cornelius in louisiana. your outlook for 2021. are you feeling hopeful? aller: no, but i want to wish happy and blessed new year in

2021 to all of the c-span audience, the listeners and callers on washington journal. all of ther show and reporters and stuff. i enjoy c-span because you can air your views, whether you are for against a person. saying she a lady on was for joe biden and stuff like that. i want to tell everybody, i am from the fifth congressional district where luke letlow just passed from covid-19, a 41-year-old fellow i got to know. i happen to be african-american. i left the democratic party and became a republican because of donald trump and this guy luke letlow was a great fellow. this republican went african-americans, democrat, republican, and independent, to get votes to win his election. my dad, a korean war veteran

just died of covid-19 also. i was around him all of the time, but i do not show symptoms. i do not understand how it is so infectious and contagious. i should be dead. january 5 i will be 60 years old. i was a military police officer. i trained in alabama at the mp school. this biological bomb china has put on us because the chinese communist party wanted to destroy donald trump for what he did to them, and that is the real reason trump lost the election. more blacks and latinos voted for trump because they saw what he did. he restored funding to historically black colleges that obama said no, we do not need to give them money. cornelius, i will go to a text message from ray in north carolina. "pessimistic, especially with the administration that will soon be in the white house.

the regulations, taxes, the gun control measures are coming." lori in pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i am optimistic now. it has been a hard four years. i have two daughters that are grown. one is leaving college. what is on the west coast. i try to pass optimism onto them. i think when the protest started and the american people came together in historical numbers and the diversity, that was the start. that was the ticket. anybody who is bashing that election, it was very democratic. this is one of the best turnout elections we have had historically, on both sides. i am so proud of the american people right now.

i hope they can work together. i do not see republicans -- they are mutating from the old republican party into something ant tohey do not even w see democratic norms or let them slip by. what is happening now -- i am in pennsylvania. with republicans filing these lawsuits and continuously doing this, they know full well they will not win. they sit in meetings and have hearings and can read them or listen to them on their own website, and they know what they're doing is fruitless, but they are keeping their base angry. people do not get peace and their continually angry. i asked why don't you like me, i'm a liberal. they said you are a communist, you want to take everything from

me and give it to poor people. i am like, no. that is not what i am. that is not what we are about. that is not with the united states is about. if we can pull ourselves back together, if we can care about each other that i think we have a good shot, and i think this pandemic sped things up somewhat and thes clean energy inequality problem. black lives matter. the policing problem. the budget shortfalls in education. it is that when one child has the internet to do virtual kids in innerr city neighborhoods do not have good enough internet to stay hooked up long enough to learn. host: i will leave it there and read a text message from gregory in sherman oaks, california.

"optimistic. if democrats win in georgia enabling the possibility of forward progress, pessimistic if they do not and mitch mcconnell continues his reign of american pain augmented by deliberate dysfunction anticline." -- and decline." joining us is mark bernier, host of the mark bernier show on wndb radio in daytona beach, florida. are you optimistic or pessimistic? guest: i am guarded with optimism for the next year, especially for the state of florida where i think we have a good governor who has done a good job by keeping things open, telling people to wear masks, being careful not to engage in large groups, and with few exceptions i think he has handled this with great success. i am cautiously optimistic because while there is a lot of my colleagues on the right that

fear the worst of joe biden, i think he is more moderate. it is the people coming behind him that are the problem. a lot of conservatives are worried about kamala harris and some of the other people being selected by joe biden to come into his administration. it is astonishing to hear some of the things being said by the people on the left. i wonder what universe are they operating from? back here on planet earth, we have real issues to take care of. for one thing, the election. this was riddled with problems. clearly there was a problem in pennsylvania. there was a problem in several other states. i am hoping the new president will end up deciding we need to make this a national issue to fix this so it does not happen again. regardless of what the court said, you cannot deny there were problems. those on the left blow it off. i am hoping joe biden will take this on and make this a big

issue. we will see what happens. host: are you questioning the results of the election? guest: absolutely. we will see what happens on january 6. i do not get a lot of good vibes about it. from what i am hearing, there is an unlikelihood the election will be corrected. there is a lot of anger in this country from people on both sides. that anger could spill into violence. i'm very concerned about this. we know a lot of people will be coming to washington for january 6. i'm hoping there'll will be a peaceful demonstration, but they feel like they have had the election stolen from them. no decision by any court is going to change that because it is almost like we do not want to deal with it. let's get past this. i agree with the previous caller who is saying there seems to be a big theme from joe biden of let's just get along, go along to get along. that is not with the american

people want. they want answers and they want the truth. they do not want to be misled and they do not want fake news. frankly, i would give credit to governor desantis, who has used amazingly good judgment in keeping business open. i feel sorry for the small companies and businesses around the country that have been told to shutter their doors, going out of business, and having people go hungry in a country with all of these riches simply because of fear. it is the fear that has been put out by the left that has me concerned about the future of this country. host: president-elect joe biden secured 306 electoral college votes to donald trump's 232. in which state were the discrepancies enough to change the outcome of the election? guest: i think michigan, pennsylvania, perhaps georgia. we heard a lot of problems in all kinds of states.

that is largely ignored. i have to wonder, if we use a simple paper ballot method, with that have been better? we got things right in florida. we used to be the laughing of the nation but we have an election supervisor in my county, lisa lewis, who is perfect and what she did. the state did a good job. i wish some of these governors would say maybe florida got it right for once and maybe we should follow their lead. host: the washington times noted this week that over 50 judges where there were challenges to the election in states. how could all of those judges dismissed them if there was evidence? guest: in my opinion it is because they did not want to deal with it. it is simple. they wanted the legislature to deal with it and that is why they turned it back. republicans made

strong cases in court? i think the people who were leading this did a sloppy job because they said one thing on television to those who are conservative on the right, but then they set a different thing in court because they were dismissed so quickly. in essence, with all due respect, i think they did a crummy job of making their case in court. i think that is why these decisions happen. host: majority leader for republicans in the senate mitch mcconnell told his republican colleagues in a call that the january 6 vote to certify the election will be the most consequential vote. do you believe he should continue to be the leader of the republican party in the senate? guest: i don't know. that is a tough question. i will not make friends on either side with this. i am not impressed with how he has handled this. i am disappointed, let's put it that way. let's face it. he has an old relationship with joe biden. he does not feel threatened by

him. i do not know what is in his head. i wish i saw more strong leadership from the senate majority leader in this regard. i am not seeing it. i am disappointed. i think there are other people who could step up. i look forward to seeing the rise of people like senator cotton from arkansas and some of the others in the senate. i think they are more straight from the shoulder. they tell it with plain truths. i do not see people like tom cotton and others, marsha blackburn, as people who get that motivated to say what sounds right and feels right based on what the press puts out. host: what role do you think president trump should play in 2021? guest: i think he is still going to be a major driver of the republican party. let's face it. he did a lot of good as president. he took on issues no previous president would take on.

he should a firm hand with china, he showed a firm hand with letting businesses getting back to doing business. the first thing he did was cut out a lot of regulations. i think he is going to have a strong influence of where the party goes. the 70 plus million people that voted for him thought he did a good job and wanted to see the country continue on this path. i think he is still going to be a guiding force. i do not know whether he will run again. i think he will have a strong influence in who steps up for the republican party in the future. host: what are the most important issues for your listeners in florida this year? governor -- have the government get out of our lives and let business to business. come up with a better system of electing people that is more consistent across the nation. a lot of people watching for fixedless debt, let's

infrastructure -- less fixed infrastructure, let's put money into policies and stop with the pork. floridians are tired of hearing about congressional and senate passage of bills loaded with pork and things that do not affect their lives, do not affect the lives of americans. they want this to stop. we have a vibrant economy. people are moving here, they want to live here. we have a good balance of people who want to step up. this election showed people were happy with the conservative voice of the legislature and the governor and this is why semi people want to move to florida. our constitution does not allow us to carry debt over to the next year. i think people are happy here. i know i am. i've been on the air for 30 years and i am pleased with the way things are going. programrc bernier's runs from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

focusing on politics on wndb radio in daytona beach, florida. thank you for your time. guest: a great pleasure, thank you. host: caller: i am feeling pessimistic . looking -- wasrt in florida looking to see if she wants to live there. there are a lot of things that don't sound good. it hurts so much when they took away the --, because this election did not go as it should have. . don't think biden will fix it because the way the selection went got him work -- this election went got him where he is. i voted for trump. i did not vote for him in 2015.

but this time i saw how much good he did. and how much he brought people together. saidhat gentleman before trump had brought on all of this chaos with the riots and the black lives matter. black lives matter were very peaceful. all of the others were peaceful. until antifa. antifa, you have people that say we if antifa gets arrested have a bail fund for them. those people were put there to create chaos. governor newsom, i was born and raised in california. i wish i could leave. but i have family here. something has to change with california, and new york, people

are leaving because it's too muchsive and there's too they have to live by. but i am pessimistic. i want to be hopefully optimistic. but hopefully the democrats on the republicans can look each other in the eye and say let's have lunch, let's be nice, people need us. and stop thinking about themselves. angelo, who onto feels hopeful in new orleans. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span. because myptimistic candidate is going to the white house and the snake oil salesman and his family are going to jail. it makes me optimistic. -- has done more to separate the country through the

he like to kill all the news media. his niece wrote a book that was excellent that everyone should .ead -- read he's into revenge on his enemies . he believes more in russia and putin's methods than the countries. madison,ext message in wisconsin who says that they are optimistic because president notp -- biden is surrounding himself with sycophants, hopefully we can gather together and listen to .ne another the washington times this morning with the headline, coronavirus aid, police reform dominates new laws in the united states. this year they put a number of new laws on the book which might

make you feel optimistic or pessimistic. voters in arizona, montana, new jersey, south dakota, approved measures legalizing recreational marijuana. colorado will prohibit landlords rent, orsing to show, lease housing based upon person's income. in new hampshire, they will make multiple changes to state laws regarding sexual assault. the sexual assault will be expanded to include any sexual contact between school employees and students between the ages of 13 and 18. and in georgia it will require an audit in 20 to anyone before movies and television productions are awarded a generous tax credit which allows for high subsidies. the credit, which rebates up to 30% of a production value costs nearly $900 million in foregone tax revenue in 2019 as movie and tv production bloomed in

georgia. california will require companies based there to have at least one board member by the end of 2021 who is ace -- was a racial or sexual minority with larger numbers acquired by 2022. in connecticut employers must take deduction from paychex for a new paid family and medical leave program under a state law passed in 2019. massachusetts will begin a new paid family medical leave as well. oklahoma will expand property tax-exempt and for religious institutions to include property owned by churches that conducts the instruction of children, pre-k through grade 12. let's hear from jack, in davenport, iowa. good morning. caller: good morning. host: how do you feel about this year? caller: mostly pessimistic. the chinese communists are not going to change their hostile actions towards the united states. hong kong, and the rest of the

world. ascy pelosi will continue speaker of the house despite her dangerous immigration policies and her impeachment which happened while they dangerous virus was in the country. cnn will continue to slant news coverage to cover up the blunders of andrew cuomo using brother, during his hourly shows at night. last, too many young african-americans will continue in their violent ways and they will just blame white police officers. host: can, in clinton, maryland. caller: good morning. i'm optimistic about what president biden will attempt to do. i'm pessimistic at how the

american people and congress will react. host: why is that? caller: just listen to the comments we are getting. talkinghat mark bernier about not paying attention to the courts, first you have to courtsdence in front of for them to address. all of the challenges -- why would giuliani and some of these other, sidney powell, not say fraud or present evidence of fraudulent cases in courts? why? because they could not support it. they had no evidence. and if they went before the court and made that claim, you know what would happen. they would be disbarred or sanctioned. the american people need to look at facts, not the way they want

things to be, not the way things -- not the way they hoped things to be. but they have to look at facts and stop lying to themselves. i think the greatest problem for this country is that people are reluctant to look within and realize they have been lied to by politicians, from other people, and have been lying to themselves. to take the word of the is, andt, it is what it we have to accept things as they are. you might not like to agree with it, and if we don't agree with it we can challenge things. but you have to challenge things with facts. you have to challenge things with evidence. ,hat's why i'm pessimistic because people are not willing to accept and challenge things with evidence. host: we have heard your point.

we are taking your temperature on this year, are you optimistic or pessimistic. if you missed it, president-elect joe biden and his wife, incoming first lady have joined abc for their new year's eve festivities last night. here's the interview. us right now, president-elect joe biden and dr. jill biden. hello, happy new year. nice to see you. >> happy new year to you. >> happy new year. >> and congratulations. [laughter] >> we are here with essential workers and frontline workers in times square and around the nation. mr. president elect, what would you like to say them? biden: bravery resides in every heart and someday will be summoned. the people we honor tonight, it

was summoned and they stepped up and they are brave. they risked their lives and have done so much for us. we owe them, we owe them, we owe them. grateful, we are so they left their families and their homes so we could be safe. and all americans truly appreciate what they did for us. president-elect biden: they established to we are as americans. and they brought character to the country. it's a big deal. >> i'm curious, what's your message to america about the vaccine and taking it? dr. biden: you have to take it. it doesn't hurt, i promise. president-elect biden: she hates needles so that says something. dr. biden: it doesn't hurt and i did not have any aftereffects. everyone has to take it so we can all be safe. >> mr. president-elect as we look forward to 2021, what are

your thoughts. what are you hopeful for? president-elect biden: i am more optimistic about america's chances than i have been and i've been around this for a while. we had the most productive workers in the world, we have vaccines that are available and they will work. and we decide to get a better way of getting more out there quicker. and we are in a situation where we once again have to step up and lead to the nation. there's never been a single thing america has been unable to overcome, no matter how drastic it has been. provided we've done it together. never, never, never. i am absolutely and positively confident, confident that we will come back and come back stronger than we were before. >> we certainly will. before we move on because the ball drops soon and it's almost the new year. what is new year's eve like at your home? president-elect biden: it's normally pretty quiet, not

quiet, it's with family. i like spending it with jill and our kids, our kids are grown, so we are on the phone at 12:00 and we try to get through at 12:00. it it's usually just jill and . when the kids were little it with the whole family. but this is a special night for us. biden: things will get better america. >> well said. happy new year to both of you. dr. biden: happy new year. president elect biden: keep the faith. here it comes. better luck in the new year. dr. biden: oh well. host: president-elect joe biden and dr. jill biden on abc last night. the president also delivering a new year's eve message from the white house yesterday. [video clip]

ofsident trump: in the face great challenges americans showed great, strength, tenacity, and resolve. together we achieve truly historic victories like nobody ever thought possible. to defeat the china virus we launch 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. pioneered groundbreaking new therapies and we save millions of american lives. over and over again we were told it would be impossible to deliver a vaccine by the end of the year. all of the experts said absolutely unthinkable, trump is exaggerating, it can't happen. and we did it. long before the end of the year.

they said it would take a medical miracle. that's exactly what it is. years from now they will be talking about it, they will talk about this great thing that we did with the vaccines. a truly unprecedented, amazing medical miracle. wemally developing a vaccine developed a vaccine in nine months. we have begun a nationwide vaccination program. we are sending the vaccine all over the world, the world will benefit, we will benefit, and everybody is calling to thank me. our most vulnerable citizens are already receiving the vaccine and millions of doses are being shipped across our country. bierly next year are the vaccine will be available to every american and shortly thereafter it will be delivered worldwide. we will end the pandemic once and for all. host: president trump from the

white house yesterday. how are you feeling about this year? in pennsylvania, your turn. caller: the first thing i want , heay, that radio joke guy needs to get a little meaner about democrats if you want to be the new limbaugh. the election itself that he was talking about, and i know you cannot be gruff with people, but when you have people on the show like that. how is this country going to be able to do anything when half of it believes in these things that don't exist and are true? and the media cannot somehow how can the- country move forward when people believe in these falsehoods? .specially the election thing taken to court like the caller

before said. no evidence. .nd it doesn't matter it's a gun thing, the abortion thing, immigration thing, taxes, every word that comes out of their mouth that they say democrats are doing are exactly the things that they are trying to get over. and i do not like this at all ?ut how do you get facts out and use are the media. -- you are the media. you have to -- is there a caller going to tell me the last time legislation was introduced to take away people's guns? but the people i know when work with believe these things like it's truth from the bible and i don't understand it. i hope you can help me out. host: gary, in washington texting is to say i'm optimistic looking forward to 2021. i think america is a well oiled machine thanks to our democracy

backed up by our great constitution and bill of rights. look ahead americans and help, do what you can for the overall wellness of our great country. happy new year americans p let's go to scott, in maine. caller: hello greta. how are you? host: i'm well. how are you feeling? caller: i'm really more saddened and pessimistic. i saw the georgia state senate judiciary subcommittee video where the same votes went through the voting machine. i don't know why the mainstream media did not even show the video. would you please show it? i almost dare you to. people will be shocked. , it: the wall street journal think it was their editorial board who said that the georgia recount was done twice by hand, and both times affirmed that joe biden was the victory in that state. caller: i know what you're

saying, but did you not see the georgia state senate subcommittee video? host: but i'm asking you about the hand recount that they did. caller: it doesn't matter. the hand recount doesn't matter. they put the same votes through over and over again. host: michael, st. paul, minnesota. go ahead. greta. happy new year i am pulling it all-nighter here. about having a president that won't name call every day. i'm also optimistic that you are wearing minnesota state purple instead of maroon. happy new year. host: [laughter] ok. michael. this is from sue, she says pessimistic. one side remotes pro-life, personal response ability, less government, strong family life with a father and mother.

unfortunately with the new administration none of these will be a priority. under god is being diminished. rouge, louisiana. caller: first i'm very pessimistic. very concerned. but i will tell you is , theistic, the ccp communist chinese party. they are ecstatic. nothing chinese people, but the chinese government -- not the chinese people, but the chinese government are ecstatic. trump tried to stop what happened from the obama years. and i think they will be ecstatic and we will be left holding the bag. host: jonathan, in canton, ohio.

caller: happy new year. host: happy new year. caller: i'm glad to speak. it's interesting to hear the comments that people are speaking about in reference to joe biden. mcconnell,sting that it's funny that they say in god we trust. and if we believe in the lord and christ, we would not have these lies, name-calling and all of that. you would not be worried about those types of things. if america really wants to come together and be cognizant of do, i thinkts us to they would not be talking like they are. on the cross, and what christmas is about. god is good. if you want to have a blessed america, at least joe biden is a

little more positive than trump. host: another text message from a viewer. i'm optimistic about 2021. i think the biden-harris team will be good for the country. signed to say -- time to say good riddance to 2020. paul, in portland, maine. caller: i just wanted to comment about the conservative radio talkshow host. i believe there's approximately 1500 right-wing radio talk shows in america on am radio. you would be lucky if you could showswo progressive talk on the radio. and this is been going on for years and years. the last talk show host you had on did say one thing that was

true. but the republicans said one thing on tv, and when they got into court they set another thing. when you ask them why would 50 cases, hisw out 50 reply was they just didn't want to deal with it. when you asked him which states may have had enough to have made a difference, he mentioned michigan, pennsylvania and perhaps another one. .othing factual to back it up the judge is justin want to deal with it. mitch mcconnell, yesterday on the floor of the senate actually made the statement. the democrats want to send more money out, to put it into the

pockets of their rich democratic friends. he said this is socialism for the rich. after we have bailed out gm, the banks, wall street, the airlines, corporations, now all of a sudden when they want to send money to people it's socialism for the rich. right? even though none of that money reaches the rich, at all. i guess that's all have to say. host: paul, in portland, maine. amy, west bridgewater, massachusetts. how are you feeling about this year? caller: i'm optimistic, just from looking at that video of donald trump. think the i really do

whole presidency has really been an illusion. he did state that this virus was coming, he knew how deadly it his own he chose political future over hundreds of thousands and maybe millions of americans that are now suffering with this virus. i'm just appalled. his whole presidency is an illusion and he wants to give up the illusion that is working for the american people. but it's not just about developing vaccines. it's about getting them into the arms of people. that is what needs to be done. he said 20 million by today. 2.7 was the last i heard. i don't care if it was the democrats and independent or a .epublican, he's done nothing he told people stop testing. those were his words. i don't understand how anyone

can support him. host: amy, what do think about this year? do you have help? -- hope? caller: i do. joe biden's president, kamala harris, he will listen to scientists, he will get people in there. he doesn't know everything. we are human and we don't know everything. trump doesn't know everything. you need experts, not her daughter and son, people you want to give favors to. i'm terrified, we need experts. this is a century-old pandemic coming back to fix this. amy, speaking of scientist i want to show you and others in anthony fauci conversation with gavin newsom this week. he talks about when we could reach herd immunity in this country. [video clip] >> if we go through the priority people and started with health-care workers and people

in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, the next level is 75 and older and people who are critical to the running of society. the third level and then the fourth in the fifth. by the time we get to the priority people, likely the beginning of april, the end of march and beginning of april. so let's say april it will be what i call open season. namely anybody who wants to get vaccinated can get vaccinated. if we diligently vaccinate april, may, june, july, we will gradually and noticeably get a degree of protection approaching herd immunity. which i believe -- first of all nobody really knows what absolute herd immunity is for the coronavirus. we know what it is for measles because we have decades of experience with measles. i would say somewhere between 70% and 85%.

i believe if we do the kind of vaccines through april, may, june, july, by the time we get to the early fall we will have enough herd immunity to be able to get back to some strong semblance of normality. schools, theaters, sports events, restaurants. i believe if we do it correctly we will be there by early fall. anthony fauci. are you feeling optimistic or pessimistic? jason you are feeling pessimistic, why is that? .aller: i'm very concerned one thing i liked about trump come i never thought about it until this election, specially after everything with our business shutting down i felt that we needed to keep trump in office just because we will need to recover from the job losses

and he's all about jobs in america. was doing it because he had nothing better to do just the rich guy with nothing better to do. and all he wanted to do was build our economy, which we need, which we strongly need in they's life, and open up borders and bringing more people and when we have people in america need work. host: judy, we are listening to you. do you feel hopeful? caller: yes i do. host: why? caller: because i trust brian -- biden. when obama and biden was in office we had a good economy. everybody was working. over, the other

president, bush, we were in a recession. and biden and obama pulled us out. the economy was good when trump got it. i don't see anything different he did. he did make anything better. all he did was talk about the handicapped and the veterans, all of those veterans are dead now, they died for our country and he said any soldier that gets caught, doesn't mean nothing to me. they are not heroes. what about those soldiers who died? they got caught. they died he didn't day? he was rude and impolite and he talked about other people. these republicans all come from people with money. the democrats are for the middle class and the poor. lived myars old, i've life and i've noticed that's true because these republicans don't want to do nothing for the people who voted them in. they turned around and look at what they are doing to the country.

lying about nancy pelosi, all nancy pelosi ever did was try to fight for money for the people and they say nancy pelosi disagreed. to if ie, i would have turned around and i saw them doing what they were doing. host: a reminder to you and others, you have to turn down the television. just listen and talk through your phone. federal lawmakers sent out new year's messages. a montanaweet from democratic senator. [video clip] >> happy holidays to each and one of you. i know 2020 has been tough. i know none of us are sad to say goodbye. but we have a lot to be helpful for. a return to normal appears to be in the cards for 2021 as covid-19 vaccines are making their way to montana. i know most of us would love to us love to be at a party

for the new year, but it is critical to do our part to not spread coronavirus and keep our families safe. down thetill count final moments of 2020 through a video chat with loved ones. even though this you will be different, we have to keep our eyes the light at the end of the tunnel so we can get through to the end of this crisis safely. from my family, happy new year. stay safe out there, folks, and make sure you are avoiding gatherings, staying socially distanced, and masking up. host: democrat jon tester from montana. kevin mccarthy of california, here is his message. -- 2020 being done. i wish that politics would go away and that we can get and appreciate investments made to get the vaccines here so fast. you know what?

tomorrow will be better than today. disagreeyou agree or with the republican leader? how are you feeling about this new year? steve in florida, good morning. caller: good morning. a happy and healthy new year to everybody. i am optimistic for the 75 million to 80 million people who voted for president trump. i stand behind president trump totally. i am a businessman. i own a couple of companies. i think people need to understand and need to look at, if you own something, then you realize things have happened in this country in the a very good way. operation warp speed, he will be remembered by that. everyone can say what they want, but that man cut the red tape and cut all the garbage and put the american people first. some people like his personality, some do not. that is up to them. each individual on their own. but as a businessman, as a

citizen of this country, i love my country. i am optimistic. now when it comes to the biden administration, as old as i am, 53, i have sat and watched other president, joe biden, elect, whatever you want to call in as everybody who has been the obama or clinton organization. so i do not understand anyone saying it is a tremendous change, a great thing. i do not understand that. as a businessman, i cannot get into that. i love my country very much and am passionate. on the other hand, i cannot see as a human being this is going to help us. host: ok. coral in dallas, texas, you're optimistic. caller: yes, i am. first, thank you, greta, for being such an awesome host, and thank you for c-span. i am cautiously optimistic. optimistic because we have this old regime going out and we have this new and stray should coming

in -- this new administration coming in. but the caution comes, like the last caller, they trump supporter, the dramatic hypocrisy i have seen on the right. 2016, we had an unprecedented attack on our election by russia that had never happened before in the country, and we were expected to accept the results, and we did. the results we did not like, we accepted it. four years, never storming the white house demanding that trump leave. we accepted it. the other side -- when you go into a contest of any sort, there is a chance that you can a chance you can lose. you lost. you lost the election. all of the challenges will not change the fact that you lost. always has the chance you can lose it. and i do not understand the

hypocrisy of expecting the left to accept the 2016 election, which we know had many questions but we accepted the results appeared why can't they do the same? i will go ahead and hang up and get my answer. host: larry is next in illinois. it is your turn. good morning to you. caller: good morning. the last gentleman talked about how the democrats accepted the election in 2016. trump went through four years of impeachment hearings, you name it. i do not know how that is accepting it. but anyway, i do not look forward to anything getting better. our country is too divided. when i get my check, i am going to go out and buy another gun. i do not understand it. they still want to impeach him, put him in prison, but his wife in prison, but his kid in prison. i mean, they want to put the

whole family in prison, the democrats. and i do not know how the gentleman could not see it, but pelosi stood up there on the house of a presented lives -- excuse me, a news conference, and said she held the vote and wanted a way for new election. i live in a small town, and every time they write into the editor, 90% of them are democrats, and they call us names, tell us how stupid we are. they want the man dead, and then they will be happy. i do not see our nation ever getting back together as long as i live. it is going to take years and years and years for it to heal. snowflakef the democrats, if they would say, ok, it is fine, let's go on because we got who we want in office, there is a great possibility it could. otherwise, i cannot see this country healing. host: larry's thoughts in

illinois. georgie is in michigan and feeling optimistic. caller: good morning, greta. you do not have a line for neutral, so i called in on this line. at the beginning of the week, i said there is no way c-span would make their superstar greta work on new year's eve. and if they did, i would do an extra set of 50 push-ups. toat noon, i lost, so i have do an extra set of push-ups. host: good for you for being able to do that many. caller: well, we will give it a try. we can be i hope optimistic about is animal-rights -- i am hoping we can make torture, maiming, killing animals, tests, farm

animals, you know, some type of a federal crime punishable by prison, more than a slap on the wrist. i hope we can make some progress on the environment. i hope we can give native americans back a lot of their land that we have taken from them. ran the pieceyou by donald trump about all the things he said he accomplished, and it is a shame he had such an abrasive personality, because if 90% of those things are true, he would have done a lot of great things. have too many far-left, far-right people in this country. schumer,inton, mcconnell, all these guys are career politicians.

this hunter biden thing, i do not like it at all. i do not like the hypocrisy. trillion, all$1 these trillions of dollars, where is this coming from? press in theinting washington, d.c., that must be working like crazy. they must be replacing the bearings every couple days, working so much printing money. i do not know where all this money is coming from. but at noon today when you are eating your salad in the c-span lunchroom, i will be doing an extra set of push-ups. my number one fan, happy new year. there is a piece on the new administration's first 100 days, and it says president-elect biden is likely to listen to science, joining the world health organization, and keeping dr. fauci as a close advisor.

on the economy, they believe the president-elect would reverse trump's corporate tax cuts if he can. on the environment, make the u.s. and international leader on climate change, possibly rejoining the landmark paris climate accord. extending the voting rights act, immigration -- come up with some sort of comprehensive immigration plan. as well as stop family separation at the u.s.-mexico border. on trump's executive ban travelers from muslim-majority countries. those are some of the things npr says around the president-elect's agenda for the first 100 days. does that make you feel optimistic or pessimistic? gina in mississippi, go ahead. caller: good morning, greta. with that makes me is scared, fearful for the upcoming year. those things listed there.

i really want to respond to the gentleman who talked about the 1500 a.m. stations where they have conservative talk radio. let's compare that to the left owning and controlling every other news media outlet, twitter, facebook, except fox. so let's compare that, sir. and i would like to talk to the liberals and just tell you that for four years, i have sat back and watched how you have bashed trump, lied on trump, and everything, and now you are just trying to pretend like it never happened. but we will never forget. we are not going to forget. we're going to go through four years with biden and act like civilized human beings, and then we're going to vote again. god bless america. host: who do you want to run in

2024? oh, we lost jean appeared we will never know. harry in virginia says he is optimistic we retain capitalism. and he says we need a safety net, not a safety hammock. william in georgia. caller: yes, i am optimistic, even though the country is divided. we are so separated in the country because it has always been divided. we are in our own camp so deep that you cannot put us out with two old dozers or three diesel two mule teams, along with 14 prostitutes. but i am hopeful and optimistic, but it is just because i think god is on the move. we want to think we are in control, but god is in control. the bible says fear not, so i am

looking forward to the future. and i am looking forward to the new biden administration. thank you. analystrgan stanley projecting strong global gdp growth of six point 4% for 2021, led first by emerging markets, followed by reopening economies in the u.s. and europe. foreign policy magazine has this headline on the economy. there projecting recovery, as new economiclew of problems is what they write. they say covid-19, as it is conquered, the global economy will spring back, but the old problems of popular politics will only grow worse in may be harder just off. they pointed trade deals, trade agreements, as well as the different approaches across the country to big tech companies. amelia in jacksonville, florida. good morning to you.

caller: good morning. host: are you hopeful? yes, very hopeful, very optimistic. i called into your show this morning because i am a public school teacher, and i think now that we are teaching civics and american history thoroughly now, that the up and coming generations will do things a little bit differently. and i think with all the laws and the rhetoric going on right now, the younger generation population will look at it and say, hey, we can do things a little bit differently. that is what i am optimistic about, the things i do in my classroom everyday. host: donnie in louisville says, i do not trust the future congress. when you got the voting for stimulus checks for those making $300,000 or less, that will include most congressmen and senators receiving benefits when they have not missed any work or

pay. now to david in new york. caller: happy new year, and thank you for c-span. of course, the biggest problem is the debt. in the short term, i am optimistic that we will not have a constant stream of the major networks bashing the president. we will have good news. of course, there will be a period of blaming the current administration, soon to be former administration, for everything that does not go right. we can expect that. andwe will have good news reasons to help the economy, ,ather than to make it look bad as a low baseline for the new economy and the improvements that will come because of the vaccine and the reopening. so i am looking forward to the end of the constant stream of bad news about the administration, and i do pray thewish all the best to

administration. host: who did you vote for in the administration? pro-life always vote regardless of the candidate, so i did vote republican. host: but do you accept the results? caller: well, we have to, but there have to be very clear steps to avoid the problems of bipartisan observation of accounts, and i think we should have three days of voting in-person. and with traditional absentee ballots for those who have a real reason, but i think voting 's-person and with official id is commonsense, and that is what we need to get to. extend it to three days so everybody can make it. host: ok. caller: so saturday through monday, something like that. host: robert in fort lauderdale,

florida. caller: i am glad there is c-span. i wish there were more shows like it where you have both sides. the media has just gone one sided, but i'm really happy for your show. my issue is what is not being talked about. end, thear comes to an --ocrats, this care is bill this cares bill was loaded with pay raises for themselves of $40,000 plus, including a new president. plus, the billions of dollars that was spent on foreign countries. san francisco museums getting hundreds of millions. all of that could have gone into distribution,ne as well as the individual checks for the american citizens who,

by the way, are the ones who are paying for all of this. to i think once you get become a legislator, that you forget whose money it is. and that is not going to change. so i guess i am a pessimist unless we have another -- somebody who wants to take us out of this swath. host: ok, that is robert in florida. to harrisburg, pennsylvania, where john baer is joining us, a political columnist. how are you feeling about this year, hopeful? guest: [inaudible] host: are you cynical? guest: from top to bottom. host: [laughs]

explain. guest: i have been in politics since the 1970's. i have seen a lot of corruption, a lot of this, a lot of that. this was one of the worst years, of course, in everybody's career. have not seen a lot of indicators it is going to get any better, at least in my beautiful home state. host: why? guest: we have always been a very partisan state. we have a split government with a democratic governor tom wolf. we have always been very partisan. it is rough-and-tumble. that we haveason no elected the second president of the united states born in this state. it is one of the original colonies. , whoirst was buchanan

universally is regarded as one of the worst in history. so the state has never had a great reputation in politics. everybody knows it is progressive, particularly in the northeastern of the state. and we are entering the new year with conflict's already, over the past election, over covid restrictions, over political differences not being resolved, even in the worst of times, so hard for me to be optimistic. host: how do you explain the election results in your state in 2020? guest: it is interesting. rural. urban areas and she's --tely 67 can counties. were in united states during the electoral college system, he would be president. going into thel

last few days of the election, new york times, washington post, nbc, had joe biden winning by 5, 6, 7 points. every republican of significance i talked to in the last few days of the elections that do not believe the polls, it would be close, and the president would win the state, as he did in 2016. suburbs we have are that voted very heavily for joe biden, much more in pennsylvania than for hillary clinton. realize,people do not donald trump got more votes in pennsylvania in 2020 than he did in 2016, and that is partly because of the record turnout. but there is no lack of support for donald trump in pennsylvania before the election, during, and after the election. host: is there evidence of voter

fraud in pennsylvania? caller: no. i think they were -- [inaudible] one was a guy who voted for donald trump, put on a hat, and came back later to vote. i think that is about it. host: what then do you say to claim that there is enough discrepancy in your state that it could have made a difference for the president? back andu have to step , unprecedented that a state that has been very nonprogressive, very staid and , did introduce three elements to our general election. for the first time, unrestricted mail-in voting.

for the first time, we did away with straight party ticket voting were you hit one button, and you had to go down the ballot to vote for everybody. machines. new voting so you had all of these elements in the coronavirus. that is just rife -- you had all of these elements in play, plus the coronavirus. that is just rife for conspiracy theories. you have a close race, a president predicting the race is rigged against him, and all these new elements involved, so naturally you will have people willing to believe the worst, expecting the worst. are finally some republicans coming around to the fact of let's just move on and drop this, but there are many other -- the pennsylvania senate returns to work next week and is

promising a special bipartisan committee to thoroughly encumber and civilly examine the election of 2020 from top to bottom. if the election was rigged, than how do you explain the fact that both the republican senate and the republican house were restored to their majorities? so why didn't it change them, too? host: what gives you optimism about the incoming administration? what makes you pessimistic about them? there is only potential for good. so in the general sense, i am optimistic about that. but there is a lot of focus on what people say. it is going to take time. i cannot imagine a worse mess. and pick your area. education, housing, the economy, racial issues, trust in the

the listt, up and down of things that drive public life , joe biden faces an enormous challenge. times, i doest of not know how anyone deals with all of that at the same time. it will be very challenging. host: outside of the pandemic response, what do you think pennsylvania residents want this new president to do, as you say? guest: the first focus has to be on the pandemic response, for at least six months. beyond that -- remember, pennsylvania is half-and-half, half of the state thinks the election is rigged, half dozen, have supported joe biden, have supported donald trump. reunitebe very tough to just about any folks.

there will be a lot of expectation for biden and a lot of suspicion. honest,, greta, to be there used to be a time where i thought what people wanted for government was just the basics, just keep them safe and deliver the mail. now there is so much to be addressed that it has to be more. you have democrats pushing to do more and republican saying do not raise my taxes, do not tread on me. is those things get resolved something we will be writing about for the next 5, 6, 7 years. host: john baer, sounds like you will continue to be cynical in the coming year. you can read john baer's political analysis on pennlive.c om, a columnist for the patriot news. thank you for your time. happy new year to you. back to our calls.

roosevelt in los angeles, hello. how are you feeling? caller: good morning, young lady. i would have liked for those who love trump so much to have to feel his policies, like i would love for them to have got rid of the affordable care act so those people who love him so much lose their medical benefits and suffer the consequence. like him lying about the wall and all these different things, people do not feel that. they continue to love donald trump. if they had to feel the wrath of some of his policies, i think they would have greater concerns about his presidency, rather than just, oh, he is so good. because anybody who knows him knows he is a fraud. i am not trying to be partisan or nothing. i am just trying to be honest, and i follow politics. i remain pessimistic, and i hope this country can come together and put their partisan aside. feeling, roosevelt pessimistic -- optimistic, hopeful. now to fred in nevada. caller: how are you this

morning? happy first day of the rest of this year. host: what is your outlook? caller: it is not good. i am pessimistic. think with inauguration day when joe biden and kamala harris take office, i am not scared. we are not scared, we're just worried. host: what are you worried about? iran,: north korea, china, russia, and syria. we have got a weak administration coming in. host: in what way? caller: joe biden vice president with obama when they did that youmark in the sand, if shoot chemical warfare against

your people, we're going to retaliate, and they did nothing. and i want people to stop and think -- before the election in 2016, when the president knew that russia was interfering with our election, president obama, he got on national television and told the president of russia, quit it. those were his strongest words. host: all right. i am going to william in kenosha who since a text saying, as eye-opening and perhaps is not humanitarian as it seems, the countries and state leaders had to valance the loss of individual lives, collapse of the economy and perhaps society, and real leaders, when confronted with such things, handle it. i am a trump supporter but optimistic for the future. dorothy joins us from north

carolina. caller: i am cautiously optimistic. i have a few things to say. about the democrats, which i am a democrat, but these are problems that i have had with the democrats, they do not get out and really tell the people what is happening, just like the guy just said. he said that obama did not do anything when he drew the red sand -- yes, he did. him and russia got in there and got them to stop it. they did do something. so that is not true. and another thing that is not true, like the soldiers and the choice act, that did not happen under trump. that started back when obama was in office. another two things i am cautiously optimistic because democrats do not say, trump has not handled not one emergency, not none. he caused havoc. when he did the trade deal -- what trade deal? farmers lost their farms.

nothing happened with that. the virus came. he did not handle that very well. has hacked everything we have got in the government. he has not done anything about that. this is what i want the democrats to do. not put billsuld up with a lot of stuff in it. do social security first. take the cap off and let the republicans vote against it. next, the students. take the interest rates off of those loans. then make the republicans vote against that. give us a tax break. i get social security and i still have to pay taxes on it. and i am not getting a lot of social security. drop that tax break, for real. just do one bill, kill some taxes for us, and let the republicans vote against it. they would get the republican voters to see exactly who the republicans are for.

these bills concerning the normal joe. host: i'm going to leave it there. we are at the top of the hour. president did address the country yesterday in a video message, talking about this last year. trump: in the face of challenge americans showed grit, tenacity, and resolve, and together we achieved historic degrees. to defeat the china virus, we launched the largest mobilization since world war ii. 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 ignore the experts who demanded "are, and we shut down travel from china and europe to protect our citizens. and we built the wall. he pioneered new therapies and treatments, and we saved

millions of american lives. over and over we were told it would be impossible to deliver a vaccine by the end of the year. all of the experts said, absolutely unthinkable, trump is exaggerating. and we did it, long before the end of the year. they said it would take a medical miracle, and that is exactly what it is. years from now they will be talking about it. there will be talking about this great, great thing we did with the vaccines. truly unprecedented, amazing medical miracle. normally developing a vaccine takes up to 10 years. thanks to operation warp speed we developed a vaccine in just nine months. we have begun a nationwide vaccination program, and we are sending the vaccine all over the world. the world will benefit, we will benefit, and everybody is calling to thank me. our most vulnerable citizens are already receiving the vaccine

and millions of doses are being shipped across our country. by early next year the vaccine will be available to every american. shortly thereafter it will be delivered worldwide. he will and the pandemic once and for all. this is one of the most extraordinary scientific, industrial, and medical feats in history. as that, thatit is what they are marking it down as. we can never let people forget where you came from and how it came. we are proud to be honored, and all of the people that worked so hard on it, we have to be remembered for what has been done. want to thank all of the workers, scientists, doctors, and members of the military that helped make operation warp speed possible. before the pandemic we built the greatest economy in the history of the world. now we are doing it again. we have actually built the bureau rate economies. before and after. relief,d $3 trillion in

the largest financial aid package in history. he saved or supported more than 51 million american jobs and we are doing numbers now like nobody has ever seen before, including having the highest stock market in the history of the world. approved student loan payments, stopped evictions, suspended payroll taxes. we have slashed the unemployment 6.7%,ll the way down to and a lot of people thought that the 14.7% could be the 2% or 45%, and now we are down to 6.7%, and heading lower. we made it dramatically better than experts predicted. our economy is growing at the most rapid rate ever recorded. 33 point 4% last quarter. much faster than the nations of europe. nobody can compete with us in terms of going down last and

going up, by far, the fastest and best. when americans are challenged, we always rise to the occasion. we are bringing medical manufacturing back home. we have secured our borders and paused immigration. he lowered drug prices for the first time in 51 years. after years of endless foreign wars, we are signing historic peace deals in the middle east. it is all ending in the middle east. we have to hope it keeps going. it is so easy, if you know what you're doing. this season of joy, americans have so much to be grateful for. to live in the greatest country. we have made it greater than ever before. as long as we remain loyal to our nation, voted to our citizens, and faithful to almighty god, we know the best is yet to come.

host: president trump, from the white house yesterday. morning, times" this vaccines lag as states tackle logistical woes. the editorial board of the new york times says these are avoidable missteps on the vaccine distribution, writing this. that the situation has been made grammar by how familiar the underwater -- the underlying narrative is. poor coordination, combined with a lack of funding and support for state and local entities has resulted in a string of affordable missteps and delays. we have been here before with testing, shutdowns, contact tracing, with genomic surveillance. implementation is complicated by a number of factors, including cold storage requirements. training takes time and money, both of which are in short supply.

some hospitals have said they do not know it's vexing they are going to receive, or when. tracking system that monitors have been disorganized. larry in illinois. larry, good morning to you. how are you feeling? caller: good morning. happy new year, greta. pessimistic, sadly. it would be nice to see some different behavior from the democrat side. they win, and they are in the streets. i hope hyden does a good job -- biden does a good job. trump has done an amazing job as president. host: i would make you feel optimistic about the new president? you said he hope he does a good job, but what would make you feel optimistic? caller: really, kind of like obama when he got in, when he was briefed on gitmo, he didn't

change his stance. i voted for obama the first time, voted against him the second time. i wanted my vote back, because even when faced with the fact, he wanted to close gitmo. i defended obama where he could. it just doesn't seem like it comes from the other side. republicans get forced out, man, they are constantly flipping people. swallwell, this guy gets caught, the fbi comes to him in 15. we are half a decade on and we are just now hearing about swalwell? that is depending on what you are listening to or reading. it is sad what is going on. it would be nice if our media would present the facts instead of whatever it is that is going on. you are closer to it than any of us.

this is really pathetic. i don't think it has been official to our people, much less our kids. money is being thrown at the wall, for what? present this winter the other side. host: ok, greg, indianapolis. greg, you are hopeful. caller: yes, i am glad that trump is gone, for real. neither.ot his kid, he is 74 years old. that boy is 16 years old. add it up. i am glad he is gone and the bad part about it is, 74 million people voted for this fool. 74 million. this country is still racist. you've got 74 million white folks -- i say 70 million white folks. those other 4 million is just fools that voted for this man.

whatever it is. this country is still racist, because if you have got 70 million people still voting for this fool, it is a problem. host: we will go to erie, pa's a. -- pennsylvania. caller: i am pessimistic. the last three people running for the democratic party was three white men, wasn't it? just throwing that out there. good morning. happy new year to you. a fellow called earlier and asked about, where's is the money coming from? we know. china is buying our debt. the democrats talk about sanctuary cities. we didn't hear much about that when they were running. are we ok with cities in this country with the loss don't apply? are we ok with that? has anybody in watching the democratic-ran cities?

has anybody been watching the riots they call peaceful demonstrations? they are burning down our cities and calling them peaceful demonstrations? probably the worst thing this country -- and i can't believe some people talk about god and jesus. i will tell you why we voted for trump. donald trump had the courage to say abortion is murder. we have people who are clapping their hands over it. my gosh, folks. we don't know the difference between a blob of fetal tissue and a baby now? we don't know the difference between a man and a woman now? we don't know the difference between a peaceful demonstration and a riot now? wake up, america. get ready for four years of laming the previous administration, just like last time. host: here is a viewer that says he is a democrat in michigan. "why party must remember that most people are not extreme. please get back to governing.

force republicans to vote on issues and people will make the right decisions on public and." ralph in north carolina. anger on trump, i took it out in the voting booth, the way it should be taken out. you had a caller that mentioned swalwell. i am a truck driver, and mitch mcconnell's wife's family owns china shipping lines, the biggest shipping lines in america. i voted democrat, and my hope for the democratic party is that , as a truck driver, that they will update some of these truck scales where the trucks will not have to sit out there on the highways. my hope is that they will change the internal revenue service for this young generation coming of tax takennths

eatingx months of no tax taken out so these young people can get ahead. god bless the united states of america and god bless c-span. host: a couple of people mentioning eric swalwell. the gop is putting pressure on the speaker over swalwell. thatawmakers are arguing the congressman is a national security threat, even his ties helped to fund, raise for swalwell and helped place an intern inside of his office before leaving the country amid a federal investigation into her actions. they are saying this alleged connection to a chinese spy means he should not be serving on the house intelligence committee. republicans are already winning back the house majority after gaining seats in november, and they see the swalwell story as

one that will stick. pamela in covington, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking the call. there has been so much said this morning that i wish i could comment on at all. i am optimistic because i trust joe biden. it is so good and it does my heart good to see a leader who is clear, who is compassionate, who is experienced, and who is competent. four years of trump has been the worst years of my life. this man is a con artist. he is a dog. he is a gangster. talk about the swamp. what about you funk or's -- ivanka's patents in china? what about that building in new york? what about all of his cabinet members had to be resigned because of corruption? i am glad to see him on of office. host: linda in new hampshire.

your turn. caller: good morning. happy new year. host: happy new year. caller: ok. i am calling about what some their beingabout optimistic. i am sort of pessimistic for the next couple of weeks. host: ok. caller: because trump himself is calling out all of his supporters to riot in washington. that scares me. calling those people to come on the day that they are doing the election. host: yeah. caller: and that scares me. a president calling his supporters to come up and riot. ont: in this new year, sunday, january 3, the congress its newel-in

legislative congress, the 117th congress. that will happen here on c-span, around noon eastern time. on c-span two will watch the new senate being sworn in. you can go to c-span.org or download with the c-span radio app. our coverage begins right here on washington journal and continues to route the day. on wednesday, as the caller was talking about, congress has to certify the election, certify the electoral college. each state's electoral college votes are brought into the chamber in a mahogany boxer. hawleyall know, josh plans to object to the electoral college. you will see that all play out on c-span. go to c-span.org for more details. let me go to lori in san diego. go ahead. caller: thank you and happy new year. host: happy new year.

caller: what i am optimistic about is that this country can get over its trauma, it's insanity. really pessimistic about is something nobody is talking about. i wish somebody could give me the answer. why is nobody talking about treason? if he is not charged with treason while he is sitting potus, charges cannot be brought against him, from what i understand. there has never been anybody that has been such a blatant trader -- traitor. stakeacy is what is at here. if we believe in the principal of this form of government, this country needs to take a firm and solid stand to bring this traitorous president to bear for treason.

why is nobody talking about this? host: we are going to go to minneapolis, where matt mcneil, the host of his own show joins us this morning. hello, sir. happy new year to you. guest: happy new year, greta. host: how are you feeling about 2021? guest: optimistic. as opposed to your last caller, i think most of this is kind of dog and pony show stuff. they are trying to show loyalty. a lot of people who want to look at 2024 as possibly being a candidate or moving up into a senate seat, looking for supporters and letting everyone know where they stand in regards to president trump. i think joe biden is going to take over. he is going to have a lot of things he's going to tackle, but i have faith he is going to put the people in place that need to be there to take care of the problems. i think that is why i feel optimistic. host: what do you think

minnesotans want from this new administration? guest: it is interesting. minneapolis, obviously, to a point it is hard to watch these year-end videos. you see what exactly happened here with the george floyd murder, then the subsequent rioting that happened afterwards. we are still a city and state that is trying to come to grips with what happened. state, you're starting to realize that we have a lot of things we need to work on. i could bring up stuff like pipelines and, you know, precious metal mines they want to do. i could talk about police reform. i want some level of stability. we want some level of leadership, of the feeling that our federal government has not abandoned us. to a point, that is something that is a new feeling in minnesota and across the country.

whether or not the government is there for us. if we have a natural disaster -- a blizzard comes through minnesota -- will the government be there to help us out, or will there be hoops we have to jump through, or will they just ignore it? that is the thing we are looking for. just more familiarity with stability, how about that? host: how would you describe the divisions in the state? guest: pretty much like everywhere else. i spent a lot of time this fall in out-state minnesota, where the republicans have made inroads and been able to really the message of trump in these rural districts. minnesota currently has eight congressional district. there are some districts like minnesota six and the former collin peterson district which are really, pretty much on point with trump's message.

then you have minnesota one and when a soda eight -- minnesota eight. is a toned there down trump, kind of appealing to the blue-collar union workers of the iron range and the educated medical industry of rochester. message they're resonated, but not as strong as in some of those other areas. in the cities, overwhelmingly they were for joe biden. were what delivered joe biden minnesota and the election. a lot of people -- i don't think that is too much of a surprise. after four years of trump, the luster off of his shine had faltered, and they were looking for something they felt would be a little bit better, especially in the aftermath of what happened in neapolis. there feeling was, there was not

a lot of support or guidance coming from the federal level. host: the president-elect won the state. as we head into 2021 and look at 2022, what is your advice to how how speaker pelosi manages the house floor for the democratic majority to stay in the next election? in the absence of leadership, bravado and belligerence looks like integrity. i think one of the problems the democrats have had is they have gumption to play the game like the republicans would. with these $2000 stimulus check idea. you have at the same time the veto of the military bill. the republicans would have used the veto override to get what they would have wanted.

the democrats never even considered that. you are starting to see an awakening within the democratic party that you cannot put out your well-worded memo and think you are going to win over the crowd and everyone is going to jump arm in arm. you have to start playing the game like the republicans have. if you don't, your lack of leadership will look like you don't have any integrity. it is going to be interesting to see. these two georgia races. be a lot ofing to tie-breaking votes in the senate, and it will be interesting to see if the bills getting past resonate with minnesotans. i think the end result will be positive. they might not lose as badly in the midterms. i know the republicans in the senate had a tough road during the midterm elections because of the amount of seats they have the hold. if you basically become a party

that is fighting with itself, with more liberal, progressive sides of the party, fighting with the more moderate -- i don't want to say mainstream, but more moderate, republican-light versions of the democratic party, if they fight democrats are going to have a hard time. host: what should folks watch in 2022 in a soda? -- in minnesota? guest: police reform, obviously. they released 22 seconds of the shooting that happened two days ago, just a few blocks from where george floyd was killed. by all accounts from the video footage we have seen, the police's version of events seem to have laid out correctly. they only released 27 seconds. people have said, that is not transparency. what happened afterwards? plus you had police on the scene

wanting to respond to protesters throwing snowballs with a 40 millimeter grenade launcher. that does not sound like they have figured out they have a bit of an image issue. don't take a grenade launcher to a snowball fight. police issues are going to be something that, especially in the minneapolis metro, the ramifications of trump's trade policy have yet to be felt. i think it is going to be a very stark reality for the farmers of america and they realized these chinese markets have already been soured to american products. they are working on new contracts with argentina, brazil, new zealand. when all of a sudden they are not looking for american product, that is going to be -- the american farmers going to have questions on, or are there new markets? host: what about those payments they received under the trump administration? what is the status? guest: as far as the farmers go? host: yeah.

guest: a lot of that money went to the large, wealthy farmers. i guessthe farmers -- you call blue-collar farmers whose margins are in the space of $26,000 a year, got minimal checks. have agribusinesses that got $100,000 checks that did not trickle down. so, it is interesting. the people that got a lot of money, they are very much praising trump. they praise his agricultural policy. the rest, they appreciate the check, but as we are seeing with this new current debate, one check is not enough. you are only as good as your last check. where things go -- farmers want to sell product. soybeans,rowing corn, pork, beef, they want a market for that product. they don't want a check to say

well, maybe better luck next time. you are only as good as that last check. the reality is, these markets have got to produce, or else the farmers are going to be in trouble. the matt mcneil show in minneapolis. happy new year. guest: happy new year. thank you for having me on. host: let's go to john in pennsylvania. good morning. how are you feeling about this year? caller: pretty good. happy new year. there is a great line from the dsby" whichreat ga describes the trump administration. he is the greatest example of why we should get rid of the electoral college. there is definitely a distinct problem with the way we vote in this country for president.

also, when you go to a knife fight, you don't carry a covered dish. the democrats ought to get their act together, and i think we are going to have happy days are here again singing this next four years. that is my opinion. again, happy new year. steve,e will go to shannon, illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. happy days are here again? i don't think so. once you look at eight dollars per gallon gasoline. he will probably cost over $500 a month to eat your home. heat your home. trump has done more for blacks than anyone has. media never reported any of that. just remember, when bill clinton got an office and passed nafta, in our area every factory immediately went to mexico, china.

thousands and thousands of people out, and biden is all for that. maybe the next four years will wise some people up. as far as calling everybody racist who voted for trump, that guy had to be watching mainstream media period. he did more for the blacks than any president. host: rick in michigan says, pessimistic. election fraud is the next earth arisen -- birtherism. there can be no cooperation between the parties until trump admits there was no election fraud and conceits. -- concedes. florida. hi, steve. happy new year. caller: happy new year. host: you are pessimistic? caller: i am kind of both. i am optimistic about the biden

administration. at least we have a person who is humane, cares about people, and experienced, which he would want for any responsible leader. but pessimistic about the fact that we have got a lot of americans want to believe what they want to believe in, without doing the intellectual, or at least some intellectually-guterres watching a broad amount of media and other sources to obtain factual news information. that is getting worse in this country, especially with the internet and people accusing to believe -- choosing to believe what they want to believe instead of trying to learn about facts. it is a sad thing. in some of these recent callers, talked about the fact that trump

has yet to really face the legal consequences he should, i am optimistic that more will be done about that. as far as locking up politicians like trump, like he claimed he wanted to do, and to try to destroy our government is way over the pale. the fact that so many americans embrace donald trump is scary. i don't think that can be fixed in the next four years. in that area i am pessimistic. says, i am in maine cautiously optimistic about the new year. together, wesmart will prevail as those before us have. jerry in new jersey. hi, jerry. caller: i am very optimistic. i think the day -- i believe it is the sixth, when they meet,

all of the truth is going to come out. the media has been trying to hide it, big time. a lot of people don't know what has been going on. the media has not exposed biden, china, hunter biden, and that is all going to come out. host: you think that is going to come out on january 6? caller: no. i believe in 2021 it is going to be coming out. biden is going to be pulled out. biden said it himself twice, he has already called her president-elect. if you play the clips, you will -- here is that he has only he has already said. kamala is going to be the next president. that is their goal. biden is out, he is not even going to stay. it is going to come out. you're going to start to see the truth come out. this will be the most-watched thing.

a lot of the truth is going to come out. host: january 6? caller: yeah, when they have these electoral votes. you are going to see the republicans show the fraud happened. wonnybody believes biden this race without fraud? -- host: where is your evidence there was fraud? caller: pennsylvania -- first of all there is two states, and i am not sure which states, they had more boats than people. that is going to come out, you will see. you cannot have 130% of people vote. host: jerry in new jersey talking about wednesday, january 6. that is when congress will certify the election results. as you know, josh hawley plans to object, along with an hundred 40 house republicans. debate hishen objection. that is on wednesday.

the fourth act, on sunday, january 3, is the opening day of the 117th congress. watch our coverage here for the house. jeremy in california. caller: i am very pessimistic, but i am a realist. yesterday or the day before the united states had to close down the el paso entrance to the border because of all of the illegal aliens coming across. going to be an absolute fiasco with biden inviting -- his ideology and entire plan -- d democrats the bree are inviting illegal aliens over to the united states. it can't be sustained. it is going to be so incredibly violent. in the streets of america,

upcoming, because you cannot expect working-class americans to pay for illegal aliens for free medical, you know? there not even getting wuhan virus, chinese virus vaccine in america. we are not even giving it to american seniors age 80 years old and older from sea to sea. we are not taking care of our own people. acrosss going to bring pounds of illegal aliens. host: ok, we will go to louise in texas. thanks for calling in. how are you feeling about 2021? caller: happy new year. i am optimistic about 2021. i am glad we have a president biden going into office. i think he has the best interest of everybody. we are all humans. we are all god's children. i am very optimistic.

i am very concerned, like the elderly lady that called in earlier. i am concerned about how older people have been manipulated by trump. i am hoping people in 2021 will open their eyes and realize we are all god's children we've got to start treating each other better. host: james, and sylvania. what do you think? -- pennsylvania. what do you think? caller: happy new year's. i'm not going to get into politics. i would like to voice my opinion on, who do you want to run the country? someone that will not be bullied or a puppet? that is pretty much all i've got to say. i could go on, but i don't want a puppet running my country. host: ok, we will go to mike in new york. caller: hi, greta. i am optimistic that biden is in

there and he finally has some people around him, and he will follow things like the constitution. pessimistic that you hear these calls and listen to guys talking about gasoline, eight dollars per gallon, i mean electric cars are -- it is the biggest industry happening now. they are just so misinformed, and it goes straight out of fox. i've got a lot of friends who are supporters of trump. she was saying that black people are going to get vaccinated , because biden said that? it is just the insanity of these people, man. this guy told me about biden being a puppet, and hunter biden? forp is being investigated

$700 million shell company that him and kushner have. aliens,with the illegal complain he didn't do anything, when it comes out that biden and millionported 1.5 illegal aliens and trump only deported -- i forget what it was. it is just, that's what makes me nuts. these people come up with these crazy back. isy watch fox news and it the same stuff. everybody that calls up has the same stuff. now you have new snacks, because fox was not insane enough now. x, because fox was not insane enough now. in the middle east, all of the -- they are going to be shooting each other and, you know. host: jackie in pennsylvania.

i am not optimistic. kleiman is abruptly changing and every greenhouse gas emitted only adds to a catastrophic problem that both parties refuse to recognize. tom in new york. what do you say, tom? caller: happy new year to everybody. the big problem with everybody is, everybody is finger-pointing. all everybody is doing is arguing. if people would sit down and talk to each other, we would probably get further as far as usually quality and all of it. that is about all i've got to say. host: roland in florida. good morning, happy new year. caller: happy new year to you. host: go ahead. how are you feeling about this year? caller: i feel good that biden is in and trump is hitting out.

trump ruined the country. host: we are listening to roland through the phone. listen and talk to the phone. caller: i am glad biden got in. he will be a good president. trump ruined the country with the rest of his cohorts of republicans like mitch mcconnell. host: ra, you are getting confused by the television. for you and others, just mute the television. greg in texas. caller: good morning, happy new year. on the pessimistic side here. certainlyere was election fraud. it is harder to prove when you are trying to prove a negative air, but i believe it was wrapped up in the software that tabulated the voting.

the individual accounts, there is going to be some of those, but what was not present was the rules changed illegally as well. constitution,he there is only specific parties that can change those rules. that was not followed. i think the country is just too divided. the media has completely abandoned the profession of journalism. i mean, it is a joke to watch mainstreame major, media outlets. they are owned by so many corporations that are looking out for their being. -- well-being.

to yeah, i don't have much look at from an optimistic side. host: we are going to check in with steve gruber, host of the steve gruber show in michigan, to see how he is feeling about 2021. are you hopeful, or not? guest: i am always hopeful. i am a business owner. despite the lockdowns and quarantines and shutdowns, much of the direction of governors and mayors, i am optimistic going into 2021. there is always the possibility that we should be careful what we wish for. we wished for 2020 to be over because we believe it is going to be better. i hope that turns out to be true. host: the president lost michigan in 2020 after winning in 2016. what happened in the state? guest: there is a lot of questions as to what happened around this country when it came to voting. you have a president who got almost 20% more votes than he

did in 2016. acrosso saw a red wave the country in congress, in statehouses, and in the only governorship that switched. it has been a good year for the republicans, except at the top of the typical. which means to me across the heartland socialism has been rejected out of hand. there is no question about it. statehouses flipping in control of republicans. keep in mind, 32 statehouses are now red, both senate and house. this is time for redistricting. from places like california and new york will be losing a seat each, read strongholds like florida will get three new seats in congress. texas will get three new seats. republicans are set up for wins in 2022. and states like texas and florida getting new members of

congress, means more votes in the electoral college. power is in the hands of the republicans for a decade, it looks like. host: what is your advice for republican leaders in congress and how they maneuver over this next year heading into the next election cycle? guest: i think you are going to see a lot of people getting primary. people in very red areas that did not support the president. there is going to be a backlash. you are going to see incumbents pushed out, just like we did on the democrat side. the old guard pushed out in favor of a new, more conservative group of individuals. the country is divided, very conservative in some areas, very liberal and others. i think the republicans are going to see a move to the right, because they understand there is a rejection of these lockdowns. small business is being brought areheir needs -- knees

companies like amazon profit wildly. mom-and-pop companies are gone, while walmart is allowed to be full. i think you are going to see a pushback against that. people don't buy that around this country, and i think you are going to see a correction. host: does the current republican leadership reflect the values you're talking about? guest: well, we are going to find out what the house leadership looks like going forward. we don't know that for sure yet. remember, nancy pelosi is not assured of being speaker. .he is on a razor thin margin that leaves her with 219 votes. will she be speaker of the house? i'm not sure. on the republican side there is a push for more conservative representation. if you look at some of the people elected in florida, for example, that hispanic view of

anti-communism, that coming in. a veryk at utah, outspoken conservative, african-american coming in from the republican party. i think you are going to hear those conservative voices that are comfortable getting in front of the tv cameras more so than their moderate colleagues have been. you are going to hear that voice loud and clear. host: what about in the senate? mitch mcconnell is saying we should certify the election on wednesday. do you agree? guest: that is not up to me. there is a process here. i don't mind going through the process. i think you are getting to a point where the clock is running tight. january 5 you have a double runoff that will determine the fate of the united states senate for the next ew years. next two years. i expect a split out of georgia. then you look like somebody like joe mansion, who has voiced concern about court packing,

bringing puerto rico on as a state, other far-left ideas. he has rejected those. christensen amaq, also not a big fan of those ideas. sinema, also not a big fan of those ideas. i don't think those are going to get much traction in 2021, because you are going to have these voices that have the ability to stop those things speak up. joe mansion comes from west 35rginia, estate that was + four donald trump. you look at the lay of the land, there is a lot of things that will be impediments to that far-left agenda. host: do you accept the election results? guest: i do accept the election results, but i also accept the possibility that those things can change. there is a process here, and if a lawsuit -- take pennsylvania for example, i think more lawsuits have been filed.

it is hard to keep track of all of them. there is a process here. if it is determined that what pennsylvania did, changing the rules -- which they did, everybody understands -- was lawfully done. if the courts determine it was not lawfully done, then that is the process. do i accept the results? i do, what i also accept the process. winning, if something gets set aside, we are a nation of laws. that what are the issues will be debated in the state of michigan in 2021? guest: a couple of things happened in 2021 to touch on. first of all, polling companies are dead, for the most part. media companies taking a brutal hit. the trust in media is gone. people are looking for sources of information they can trust. c-span is independent of mainstream media. smaller media outlets are going

to fight hard to have their voices heard. people don't like the censoring of twitter and facebook and instagram. they want their voices to be heard. they are smart enough to decide for themselves. for smaller networks and right of center networks, there is a big opportunity in 2021 to connect with these folks. another concern is clearly these small businesses. in michigan, 4000 restaurants and bars are closed permanently because of the shutdowns to address the pandemic. shutdowns,owns and their efficacy, debatable at best. we know that school kids are out of class. shouldn't be. they are in class in europe, australia, new zealand, asia. school kids are in school everywhere except for the united states. people want to see their kids go

back to school. they want the small businesses, the backbone of the american economy has always been small business. they want to see those businesses set backup. there is also concern about the amount of money we are spending on stimulus. where does it end? another $3 trillion signed into the president within the last couple of days. kratz saying, we want a lot more. where does it end? people have enough common sense to say, you cannot continue to spend continuously and not have some ramifications. there has to be a place to say, ok, that is as far as we are going to go. host: steve gerber. you can listen to more of his thoughts if you go to his website. thank you, sir. guest: thank you. host: happy new year as well. we will go to ray next in california. good morning. how are you feeling about 2021? caller: i am very optimistic. will can take georgia, it

force the democrats to finally do some of the things they have been promising for years. spoke, iguy that totally disagree. all of those countries he they all have health care included for their people. having a government health care system, to take the profit out of it, you can see it works. if you look at all of the ofntries, we are at the top the list of being worst and we don't have health care for our people. it is insane. host: what are you looking for the most from president-elect biden? what do you hope he does first? caller: i hope he starts turning around some of the things trumpeted. media andll, the news fake news -- take away opinionated news. you can have it, but they cannot call it factual anymore. we need to do something with our media.

soh sides are in disbelief, we need to bring it back and restore the fairness doctrine, would be a start. host: lonnie in south carolina. go to you next. yearr: oh, yes, happy new and thank you, greta. you are looking pretty, as always. alwayshe people are talking about this thing with , the machinestion were not working properly, there was going to the supreme court. if they look at it, in 2016 it was reversed. 306. won with nobody on trump's side said it was fraudulent. even on hillary's side, nobody complained. years, and what we had to do.

but now, when she was is on the other foot, or, look at these republicans. they are so upset. i remember the time hillary lost and we was talking about that was not right or something, but we never took it to the supreme court. they told us to suck it up. suck it up. but look at trump. he would not give it up. he is still dividing our country. you have got a lot of people, rhetoric, talking about, they with asay if biden won landslide like trump said he won with a landslide when he had 306. this administration, they took off a lot of rules and regulations. don't you know that the epa stops people from -- they used to be a limitation on buying

fertilizer, because fertilizer can make a bomb. now you see that they are buying quantities of fertilizer and like at the wrong way rudolph did in oklahoma. host: we are going to go to iowa. steve dates is joining us. he is the host of the steve dates show. we have been asking our viewers how they are feeling about 2021. what say you? guest: listening to the two calls before i came on, you had a gentleman who wanted to -- hey, we need some form of objective truth, so his answer was to reinstitute the fairness doctrine. obviously that is a great idea throughout history, or not. the next gentleman complained that trump voters will not accept the -- the validity of the election and democrats accepted it just fine. apparently he was asleep for russia stole the election, trump is compromised because of a pee tape, therefore he is their

stooge and they conspired to steal the election. he must have slept through all four years of those allegations. apparently 2021 is going to look a lot like 2020. host: are you optimistic or pessimistic? guest: realistic. i think some things will get better. i think a lot of people, regardless of their political instincts, want to get back to being able to have a funeral to honor their loved ones. want to have graduations again and prompts, things that cannot be replaced that were lost in 2020. i think some of our patients with that collectively, regardless of our politics, is beginning to wear thin. ofear we are in a place irreconcilable differences as a people. when that happens in a relationship, you start forging alternative narratives, start coming up with the things on top

of the things you already did not like that you do not like even more. that's what this feels like. it feels like a marriage that stays together for the kids. big: steve, what are the policy issues that will percolate in 2021 in iowa? guest: i think what is going to happen in iowa will be reflective of what happens across the country. the number one issue is, what is the balance between public health and the fact we have to live our lives? if you look at the implied fatality rate, which is the true measure of any contagion's lethality, if you look at that rate from cdc, you don't get to seniorntil you get citizens and those who are elderly. yet, we did not protect them with our education efforts. we look at our current vaccination efforts, they don't seem to be a priority either,

yet we continue on with these mitigation efforts. but let's go ahead and do healthy people locked down. i think what you are going to see in this next year -- he saw it this year in states like mine , but i think if joe biden is sworn in on january 20 and there , i thinkat confusion you are going to see a stark policy difference here. what the democrats, for as long as they can, or going to be the party of a lockdown, and republicans, i think you are going to see the republican party led by ron desantis and others are going to be enough is enough, we have to get back to being america and find ways to protect the vulnerable but get back to being who we are as a people. host: you think kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell should be the leaders of the republican party in their respective chambers?

guest: i think they should not be leaders, they will remain so. it is almost impossible to uproot republican party leadership in washington, d.c. it is very, deeply out of touch with where the bases at. if you look at mitch mcconnell's last pitch to vote in the georgia senate runoff is, stand down on voter fraud concerns, send money overseas. if you want money that would make a difference, we will not be bullied into doing that. i don't know how that is a winnable election platform, i guess, you know, good luck. we'll find out on tuesday, i suppose. kevin mccarthy is one of these republicans, he will get trotted out on fox news to look like joan of arc, then when they get control will actually kind of rubberstamp a bud light version of what we were already going to get. the republican base recognizes this. deep,s why there is

existential difficulty. 25% of very conservative voters in a georgia poll yesterday said there was no point in even voting. an existentialst conflict brewing with the different cultures in america, there is one brewing within the republican party itself. trump kept a lot of that at bay, because he representatives people. if you move him from the scene and they have seen how little the republican leadership stands with them, i think you are going to see that spillover in 2021. host: you can learn more from steve dates if you go to theblaze.com. guest: happy new year to all of you as well. host: that does it for today's "washington journal." . happy new wish you a year and best wishes. ♪

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] journal."gton everyday we are taking your calls on the news of the day, and will discuss policy issues that impact you. up, saturday morning, conservative members for america dan caldwell member talks about priorities for congress and the incoming biden administration. the rand corporation senior policy advisor talks about a pandemicudy on how the is impacting teaching and learning in america's elementary and secondary schools. live "washington journal"

at 7 a.m. eastern. your phonewatch with calls, facebook comments, and tweets. are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. america's created by cable television companies in 1979. we are brought to you by these television companies as a public service. up new year's day on c-span, at 8 p.m. eastern, the constitution center all debate on whether the u.s. should ratify the equal rights amendment. c-span two,ern on the senate returns for an override of the president's veto of the