challenge the results. follow the process as though votes are counted and a winner confirmed, president and vice president. coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. watch on c-span.org or listen on the free radio app. ♪ announcer: you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. it was created by america's television cable companies in 1979. today it is brought to you by these companies that provides expected viewers as a public service. coming up this morning, we discussed the joint session of congress to officially count the electoral college votes. -- john fortier

discusses congress's counting of 2020 electoral college votes , and we will hear from representative hank johnson and representative markwayne mullin. journal is next. ♪ host: good morning. it is the washington journal for january 6. we will take your calls on two major events, first the state of the georgia runoff races with the associated press declaring raphael warnock the winner over kelly loeffler. and at this time jon ossoff with the lead over david purdue. counting electoral college votes with many republicans planning to challenge some votes. tune in starting at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. you can also go to the website or listen on the radio app.

here is how you can call us. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. and independents, 202-748-8002. .ou can text us at 202-748-8003 and post on our social media sites, too. for the joint session of counting the electoral college votes, here are the names to look out for during the session, as far as those who will challenge some of those votes. -- the newes writing york times writing that ted cruz , kelly loeffler of georgia, who loss yesterday, and senator josh hawley of missouri plans to object the pennsylvania slate, according to people familiar with their plans. that's on the senate side.

something to watch out for in the afternoon session. the vice president will also be under scrutiny. as far as his ceremonial role, the new york times saying that the vice president is telling the president of the united states about the limited role he has during the process, saying his message delivered during his weekly lunch came hours after mr. trump further turned up pressure on the vice president to do his bidding on wednesday, "the vice president has the power to reject fraudulent electors. accurate description of the role as they certify though votes by the state and announce the outcome." that will commence at 1:00 p.m. and you can see what happens on our website. you can listen along on our radio app. if you want to watch, join us at 1:00 p.m. on c-span, c-span.org

and on the radio app for that joint session of congress. you can see it play out there. that is one story today. the other is the result of the runoff races in georgia. but before that, also happening in washington, there's a rally hosted by those supporters of president trump. the president is expected to speak around 11:00 a.m., the margin to save america rally. watch it on c-span2, the radio app as well. thehow you the results of raphaelaces with warnock and kelly loeffler. race called for raphael warnock. ossoff leadingon

over david purdue, with 99% votes counted. that is where it stands. this is where we will take you. orally want to hear from you concerning these events. here is how you can call. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. maybe you want to texas your thoughts at 202-748-8002 -- text us your thoughts at 202-748-8032 . you can go to our social media sites, including facebook and twitter. several people posting on facebook this morning. g. phelps says, "i think the people -- thank the people of georgia. one down, one to go." josh, dean on the races, saying

"shame on georgia." "he will not enjoy a short time in office." there is the state of facebook when it comes to the results of the georgia senate race. joining us to give us perspective on what is happening in georgia is adam van bremmer, with the atlanta morning news, serving as a columnist and local government editor. thank you for joining us. let's start with the victory of rafael warnock. what can you tell us about the factors that made that possible? complexell, it is a situation, but it appears that rev. warnock, the projections are believed, to be the first african-american senator from georgia, really wasn't successful in his bid to get out the vote in a runoff election, which if you look at the runoff results we are looking at 4.5

million or 4.6 million votes, and we had right around 5 million votes in november. that's quite remarkable how they were able to get people out to the polls. if you look at areas such as savannah, he and jon ossoff hit the same numbers percentage-wise that joe biden did. the democrats were successful at getting their base out to vote and get those moderate folks that came out and crossed over and voted for joe biden, they came back out and voted for the reverend and for jon ossoff. host: as far as turnout for the republican base, what can you tell us as far as what was seen? guest: it looks like that they were similarly motivated, which is not unusual in a runoff, to see the republicans come out and vote. the numbers were similar to what we saw just one month ago. if you look at some of the numbers in the rural parts of

the state, particularly northwest georgia were present trump campaigned the other day, they may be were not as motivated. i think that people could point to different reasons for that, whether it was the doubts that were sowed by the president in the november results, whether people were disenfranchised, republicans were disenfranchised to come out and vote. it was clear to people what was at stake in this election, so i think it was a matter of the turnout was a similar both -- the voters in both parties came out in mass and the democrats were just able to eke it out, at least it appears that way. host: because of the last election, the claims made about the inaccuracies, were any reported on last night when it came to this election? like theis election,

one on november 3, at least on the ground, seems to have been a pretty clean election. like any other election, you have voting machine issues and other things. there were polls that stayed open an extra half-hour because they had issues earlier in the day, but in terms of claims of fraud or anything else we saw on november 3, when we were scratching our heads as to where these things were coming from, i think we are in a similar position today. any results or allegations of such are going to be investigated by the secretary of state's office and if it was there, they will be aggressive at pursuing them, just like they were in the november elections. host: those monitoring the election, putting it on, have they said when they will get definite counts, not only for raphael warnock, but the final

counts for the jon ossoff and david purdue race? guest: the secretary of state said he thought he would have a firm grasp on what the results would be by noon today. i know from looking at the numbers we are still about 150,000, 200,000 shy of what they were projecting last night, so as those results are trickling in, we will see where they come from. analysts, they say the votes are coming from republican leaning areas and democratic leaning areas. they are looking for jon ossoff to win his race. host: what about georgia, consider what you saw from the november elections, and what you saw yesterday? guest: it is becoming purple. or it is definitely blue now. everyrepublicans won

statewide constitutional office. here we are two years later and the presidency goes to the democrat and it looks like both senate races are going to democrats, so whether it is from demographic changes or from growth or the young people, or people general, is repudiating what they have seen from republicans -- but i am not exactly sure what is happening. could be the perfect storm of everything coming together. it will be interesting in two years, as the republicans try to win statewide offices again and hold onto those congressional seats. host: our comments from adam van bremmer, his work at savannahnow.com . thank you for your time. guest: thank you for having me. host: the special runoff races and joint session of congress counting the oral votes.

-- counting the electoral votes. you can make comments on the events on our social media. er have a ca;;er from -- callr from michigan starting us off. caller: i voted for donald trump and 2016. i was not going to vote for him in 2020 because he proved he is not a leader when it came to the way that he acted with the coronavirus. a member of a large group of people who have similar issues, such as we are in support of having assault weapons in our possession, given the lack of safety that is increasing in the country, and i did not see anybody other than trump that will support us from having assault weapons. host: of this and it turns -- if the senate turns over to

democratic hands, do you think that will be affected? caller: i believe so. my question is for people who think like me, mostly republicans, you know, trump could very well go to prison for all the things. host: we will go to james in washington on the independent line. caller: thank you. it is a new day in america. joe biden and the democrats are going to get with the program. black lives matter. that people are the ones in an office. if he wouldn't have won the primary, he would not have won nothing. host: if the senate turns into democratic hands, what does it mean as far as the president and in the house and senate should do? caller: we want to some criminal justice, we want the system changed. we want minimum wage raised and climate change. that is what we want.

host: margaret in kansas, on the democratic line. caller: good morning. there is joy in the morning. and i want to thank georgia from the bottom of my heart -- it just really lifted my spirits. thank you so much. and stacey abrams, you are a hero, all that work he did. look all the work, they are heroes. would seeought i the day. itived in alabama once and was rough in the 1950's. it's just beautiful. thank you to all the people that ran and put up with their families getting threatened and all that horrible ugliness. maybe we can start being a beautiful country again. and kansas, please, do not go there and do that thing today. it would be embarrassing. ok,: i ok, jeffn anaheim --

jeff in anaheim, california. caller: i want to echo what the other callers said, how joyous the moment is. georgiait is great that will be representative of the people as far as diversity. and i think it will be great. i have a message for people on the right. just, do not look at this is like -- do not be afraid of this moment, embrace it and know change can be good. not every left person is out to get every right person. this is a good thing. we want to work together. and that could be awesome and beautiful. you andly, i praise your cohost. i want your show every morning and you tolerate some insane stuff. you keep a cool head. that's impressive. keep up the good work. host: that was jeff giving his thoughts on the georgia senate

runoff. from texas, alex on our republican line. caller: yes, i would like to say that i want to respect the democratic voters. and their right to vote and express themselves. i want to speak on behalf of the electoral college count today and the vice president's role. watching the vice president from the videos on youtube and live events on c-span, i believe mike pence is noble bit hesitant to express himself. i think now is the time to show visibility as vice president to try to reject the electoral college votes, try. there were votes, even in texas, even if donald trump won in texas, this is worth investigating. host: why do you believe the vice president has this power? caller: because he can try. i think what matters is he

tries. people will remember his effort and not his hopelessness. i think this is the time, mike. host: this is leading up to the events of today when it comes to the joint session, the vice president's spokesperson issuing this to the hill, when it comes to his role, saying vice president shares the concerns of millions on voter fraud and irregularity in the last election. the vice president's chief of staff saying, the vice president welcomes the efforts of members of the house and senate to use the authority they have to raise objections and bring forth evidence before the congress and the american people on january 6. again, that is today. at 1:00 p.m., that joint session will convene. and you have a chance to watch what goes on with accounting of those votes and the reported protests of some of those estates. you can do that -- those states.

you can do that on c-span, c-span.org, or download our radio app and listen along. also today in washington, a rally that will take place, president trump supporters talking about the events of what is going on inside the capital. you can see that starting to set up. it will kickoff around 7:30 a.m. that is what you will see and you can watch along, if you wish, on c-span2 at 7:30 a.m. and going on through the morning and early afternoon, then the march to save america rally. steve in indiana on the democrats line. caller: how are you doing? that georgiaastic is going blue, because maybe we will be able to get something done on the coronavirus and we will get more help, because --

uh, the grim reaper is going to be in the minority instead of running things. so, hoora per georgiay -- hooray for georgia. host: ca;;er on the rep -- c aller on the republican line. caller: i hope that georgia comes out red, because there was voter fraud. everybody knows that. and i hope the wake-up and see and the electoral college sticks up. -- speaks up. host: what evidence do you offer as proof of that? caller: you can see that they had numerous affidavits and things of that nature that nobody ever got to speak on. host: so, you are saying as far as the senators that plan to protest, you support that effort

today? caller: absolutely. host: do you think it will change anything? caller: i hope it does. we do not want to do -- not want to be taking vaccines. they say you can quarantine for 14 days, why can you take a vaccine if you can quarantine for 14 days? host: how does that refer to the electoral college votes? caller: because there is no need. host: ok, we will go to sam in nashville, hi. caller: good morning. host: you are on. caller: i want to give a shout out to georgia, like the lady who called, they are heroes. they are leading the fight in america to get america back to --. and i am tired of hearing about the stalemate in washington, d.c. maybe we can get something done now.

i'm one of the few people being left out in america, since you don't care. , they last comment is also citizens of that are going to washington, get the $2000 stimulus package for america because we need it so bad. talking, that's sam about those events that will be taking place in georgia, not only with yesterday, but the results of that will be forthcoming when it comes to the race between jon ossoff and david produce. we have been talking -- and david produce. we have also been talking about the boots happening at 1:00 p.m. to give us information on that is david flatley as -- from bloomberg. good morning, thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: as far as what to watch for, what would you characterize

as the top things? guest: the first thing will be at 1:00 p.m., the declaration of the electoral college votes will begin. willo the house speaker gavel the chamber into session. and shortly after that, the sergeant at arm's will say the senate has arrived, and the vice president has arrived, and they will bring in the votes themselves in mahogany boxes that date back to the 19th century. and the vote will kickoff. we will start in alphabetical order with alabama. then shortly we will get to arizona, which is when we expect the first objection to happen. host: as far as the number on both sides of the senate and the house planning those objections, what is the latest count? guest: the latest i have seen is courtesy of representative mo brooks, who kicked off of the

effort in december by saying he would be the first to object, or he was interested in objecting. he has put at 50 objections, at least. i have seen numbers as high as 140 or north of that for the people who actually vote for the representatives, who vote to not accept the results from some states. there's a process and play, so -- in play, so once the objection is made, it has to be joined by a member of the house, then the debate kicks off. that takes up to two hours. it can be no more than two hours. then there will be a vote. that will probably start with arizona this morning, or this afternoon rather, and we expect perhaps three states to be objected to, as many as six. it could be a very long day and

bleed into thursday or beyond. host: when they raise objections, what evidence do they have to produce to be the basis of that challenge? guest: according to the law, there's a requirement to sort of state an objection. there is language about whether the electoral votes were regularly given and whether the electors who are casting in them are illegally or lawfully certified. but beyond that, there's a little bit of leeway. in the past, objections have been raised with allegations of a voter suppression or interference by foreign actors. that happened in 2017, objections along those lines, although they were not joined by senators. there are some technical requirements that need to be

met, but in terms of the objections and what evidence has to be offered, it is not clear that any evidence needs to be offered when the objection is made. that could come during the debate portion, which would happen right after. host: what is the plan for the house speaker nancy pelosi, then the minority in the senate as far as responding to these challenges? guest: right. and thepelosi has said, house majority leader, they have both tried to put the focus on the members who are from the states that will be challenged, or expected to be challenged. we know that arizona, georgia and pennsylvania are likely to be challenged. and there are some others, including wisconsin, nevada and michigan that could also be challenged. when the debate portion begins, we would expect democratic members from those estates to

mount a defense of what happened in those estates. of course, the republicans -- states. of course the republicans will launch questions about how the elections were conducted, whether they were conducted properly, and the democrats are expected to respond to those on constitutional grounds, as the speaker has previewed. they will not try to get into tit-for-tat on every argument, but rather try to address the constitutional questions, which at the end of the day the states appoint the electors and sanded the votes to washington, not the congress, so that is where most of their arguments will rest. host: there are many stories about the events today that focus on the vice president and the powers he may or may not have to change or challenge the votes. is there any president -- prece dent for the vice president to

make changes? guest: not that i am aware of. we have seen president trump pressuring mike pence to somehowut electors or or other be more active in the process. my understanding of the law, and the understanding of legal scholars we have spoken to, is that the vice president is presiding over this process as president of the senate. his job is not to play an active role, but to act as the speaker of the house would in terms of hearing the objections and allowing for that. he will call for objections. thehe will ask, likely, objector, if it is the member of the house, whether a senator joins him or her, if it has been presented in writing, then they

will continue with the count or move to debate. so we do not expect mike pence but thatn active role, is not to say he will not, given the pressure he is feeling from the president. so we will have to see what happens. but in the past, the vice president has not played an active role. host: how much of a presence does president trump have there, especially with his recent call to the secretary of state in georgia? guest: i think you will loom large in this debate, as he has over the last four years with many things in washington, but this is a unique moment for his presidency and for the republican party. you have the party essentially ong some alogn -- al ideological and constitutional lines about whether this challenge to the electoral college is the right thing to do. you have prominent senators,

including some unexpected names, people who have been in his support all along, like senator lindsey graham and tom cotton who are saying there is no role for congress to play here. then there are others like ted cruz, mo brooks, and many other members of the house and senate who say that this is allowed for under the law, it has happened they areast, and that merely following the law and doing everything they can to make sure the election is certified in a manner befitting the constitution and all of that. but there are strong divisions emerging, particularly with the results coming out of georgia overnight, that will serve me be as a final referendum, at least on this chapter of the trump presidency. and that will definitely be something we are watching today. host: have you heard anything from the senate side, from the majority leader, about the

results of last night and the potential of democrats gaining control of the senate? guest: certainly, mitch mcconnell wants to keep his job.. himself oned running the senate in a judicious, cautious but certainly forward-looking manner as far as his agenda and the agenda of the republican party. so he wants to keep his job. i have not seen reaction from him yet, but certainly there are people within the republican party who are not happy with what they see happening in the senate races in georgia. and i would expect that there will be a lot of finger-pointing reviews other action, happening after all this is said and done. reportsvid flatley who for bloomberg on congress, talking about the joint session today, has a story about what to

watch out for during that as well on the website. thanks for your time. host: thank you. host: for the next half hour, we will take your calls, either on the joint session expected today, or the results, as we are seeing them so far, from the runoff races in georgia. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. sheila in cincinnati. caller: good morning. thank you for that channel, you are so transparent with this. my hope in georgia is that when we cans settled in, repair our relations with our allies, with our plan and with each other. that's what i'm looking forward to, a brighter day. thank you for your show. i watch it every morning and i appreciate it. lauderdale, fort

florida on the republican line. caller: thank you. one thing i do not understand is forblack women could vote raphael warnock. own words, he is a wife abuser, so look at of hypocrisy is going on where democrats say women should not be abused and his own wife basically saying he is a wife abuser. the other thing too is the black lives matter movement, which is strongly affiliated with the democrat party, they say the nuclear family is not necessary. in other words, a father in the home is not necessary. which basically means that they think black women are child raising cows -- host: we will stop there.

gloria in mississippi. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. very happy for the people of georgia and what they did last night. and i believe that jon ossoff will win his race as well. ad also, i want to give really big thank you to stacey abrams and the other organizers, who got out, did not listen to the noise around them. because her name has been on president trump's -- coming out of his mouth for awhile. she stayed steadfast. she went out and organized. so we think -- thank her for that and for the people fo georgia -- of georgia. as far as the electoral college count today, it is a shame. it's a shame. if you look at what is going on

in the last 40 years, the republicans have lost the white house, they have lost the house. and now they are going to lose the senate. following donald trump. i do not understand, the writing is on the wall. they need to wake up. have a great day. host: that is gloria in mississippi. when it comes to jon ossoff, challenging the incumbent david perdue, as it stands now jon ossoff has the lead with 52%, an d senator david perdue with almost 2.2 million votes, coming in at 49.8%. that's the state of that race. we showed you raphael warnock being called to win in his race against kelly loeffler. all that playing out today, as it turns out the counting of the electoral college votes, which some have mentioned this morning

and you can watch on c-span. and the two senators he may see make comments throughout the day putting all beds in the -- putting all beds in the papers -- op eds in the paper saying why they are doing it. talking about serious allegations of fraud. specifically the elections of three states, florida, louisiana and south carolina, allegged to have been conducted illegally, going on to say that we should follow the president, congress should appoint an electoral commission, a full investigatory and fact-finding authority to bring forth an audit of those disputed states. accordingly, we intend to vote on january 6 to reject the electors in the disputed states, which is not given. and until that emergency audit

is completed. that is some of the justification that senator ted cruz and others are making further protests this morning. a republican from nebraska also with and op ed this morning, americans deserve better. president'sw the readings are bone. no one argues at that the election was stolen, the argument is about how mr. trump and his reporters will respond. republicans are facing pressure from a vocal minority, wrestling with their political consequences. he adds politics have become so poisoned that members of congress see benefit in attempting to overturn an election, disenfranchising millions of americans with the senate voting for the other party. our institutions are not meant for this and the apocalyptic rhetoric will push us further and faster into idiotic receipt.

int's -- that is ben sasse the washington journal this morning. now here is karen. caller: good morning. yeah, i want to say, here we go again. everybody knew that the republicans would be in the lead last night, and we wake up this morning and the democrats won. what is the voter fraud going on? y are part of it is the counting votes that are not legal. afore the election, there was county that said we have 4000 votes, or registered voters on the voter rolls that we do not think are eligible to vote, because they do not live in georgia anymore or they are dead, whatever the reason. they wanted to clear the roll. happening? it from the sister of stacey abrams. how is that fair?

why are you not talking about something like that? that's number one. the next thing that happened was the governor of georgia, this happened in other swing states also, we have the secretary of state changing the election laws right before the election, they did it in november and they are doing it now. they are counting votes until friday. host: was it up to the state? caller: no, the state legislatures have to pass the law. host: ultimately, the state decides before they send them to congress, that is the job of the state. caller: what happened was the governor decided these are the electors we want. the state legislature came up with their own electoral votes. they have those from the state

legislature, which those are the ones that are valid, and you have the governor's, the ones he certified. mike pence can select those that came from the state legislature. and i would like to say -- host: why do you believe the vice president has the power to do that when it has been described as a ceremonial role by many? caller: one of the problems is it's unprecedented. host: specifically, why is it not a ceremonial role? caller: he has the power because hase votes the governor certified were not valid, so his electoral college that he certified is basically not valid. host: karen in alabama. another republican in ohio. mary, you are next. caller: i want to say that i watched this from the beginning,

you know, and today is another day, of course. and i've heard people saying it is a brighter day, brighter day, on the democratic side. sealed that georgia has their fate. i think the world will become the world that democrats wanted it to be. in a year's time, if i am still living, i hate to see this happen but it is going to. and as far as president trump doing the electoral votes today, i do not know if anything will come of it. if it does, it does. if it doesn't, it doesn't. host: the president does not have a role today, just the vice president. caller: i know, i am sorry. host: i just wanted to say that. caller: they can say, we tried everything we could do to prove

this. -- thes really a lot majority of it, actually, has -- they have gathered and they have talked. and so i believe that's the role it's going to play. willoncerned about what we be looking at any year. host: ok. a caller on the democrats line. caller: i am worried about david perdue. i feel he has covid. can you tell me if that is correct? it could change everything. it could be serious. aso, like you said, this is ceremonial process. this is not a process to litigate the validity of the electorate.

i do not understand. host: this is a story from five days ago, ahead of the runoff race, cnn reporting about david perdue, saying he would quarantine because he came in close contact with someone who tested positive for covid-19. that's what his campaign announced. dill in springfield, illinois, if i am saying that correctly. caller: that is close. thank you for taking my call. 'm very happy -- im very happy -- i am very happy with the election of joe biden. and yesterday's election in georgia, i feel like we have won the super bowl. i expect joe biden to push his administration on three basic policies, if you allow me to define these policies. singleon a time, a

earner could raise his family of four without any kind of hardship. they used to have three or four weeks of vacation plus. we need to push the minimum wage to $15. and i think that would allow the working poor and middle-class to sustain itself. and having a good life. working for several years, teh retire -- then retire. you need to take some of that and put it towards health care. i do not think that people should declare bankruptcy if they are sick. we should be proud of her health care. this is something, if you watched 60 minutes a few weeks ago, they covered hospitalization and how much it costs. and put it into health care, we would generate millions per person. host: the third policy? caller: we need to have

affordable education for our young people. , if they weregs done, they could make america great again. we need to have affordable education. host: we will go to offered in -- alfred in ohio on the republican line. caller: this is america's vote. why won'tons --- them look at the machines and ballots? there's plenty of time. host: the constitution says the votes have to be certified today. caller: certified them. but they have -- certify them. but they have of time to look at things. why won't they let them do an audit? host: what do you think it will reveal? caller: it will reveal fraud.

it is the people's ballots. let us see it. host: john in pennsylvania on the republican line. caller: hi, i'm glad you have taken my call. i like when you are on, because you are usually fair, but you seem to be pushing and the republicans today that there was not fraud in this election. have you seen videos of the people pulling votes out from underneath tables in georgia? running the votes through the machines over and over again? that does not make you question what is going on in the original vote count from the presidential election? either them pennsylvania, there were 205,000 more votes counted than people registered in the state. l overturn thewil

election and give it to donald trump. you do not know this? host: i have heard stories. the person who managed the election address to this. i was saying it was up to every state to verify its own vote before they send them to congress, that was the point i was making. caller: the march in d.c. is just the beginning of the revolution today. and this country will be in bad shape. i do not like to see this happening. you are disenfranchising too many people in this country with the voter fraud. and just like the gentleman from ohio said, let's give it time. host: that is john in turtle creek. the constitution says today is the day to certify those votes in that joint session. again, you can see that play out, as people have talked

about, the protests by several members of congress, at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. watch on c-span, see spohn.org -- on c-span.org and on c-span2. senators who will be confronting the votes. senator mitt romney was approached by a supporter of president trump and asked about the certification process, it included a video. here is a portion of that. [video clip] >> how are you doing? >> [indiscernible] please put your mask on. >> i am standing six feet away. i i will do it because i want to have a chat with you. why are you not supporting president trump? >> [indiscernible] >> you are not supporting him. >> i agree with him. [indiscernible] >> are you going to support im

in the fraudulent -- him in the fraudulent about count? why not? >> you will hear my remarks in congress. it's a long story, but we have a constitution. the process is clear. i will follow the constitution and explain that in congress. >> you have not supported him. you did not support him in the election. >> i did not. >> why? you are devoted in as a conservative to represent the conservative constituents, period. >> that is not how the constitution works. >> it is. you work for us. am i wrong? >> i listen to the people of utah. >> i am from utah. i voted. there are many people that did not vote for you. host: that was senator romney about to board an airplane to

come back to participate in this process. you saw what was happening as far as what was going on with that interchange or exchange with the supporter of president trump. this happened after he got on the plane with other supporters of the president. we will show you that. [video clip] [chanting] traitor,r, traitor, traitor. online ife are videos you want to see more, but that is the lead up to the joint session today. on the democrats line, johnny, you are next. caller: let me let everybody know that we black people have been going along with the results. and we have been through everything trying to vote. and every time -- with president bush, when we came up to a level

it was trickery. and now it is time for more trickery, people saying the election is fraudulent. this is supposed to be a ceremonial thing. if he does that, that will wreck everything. [static] -- do- not think it will be easy. it will be dangerous. host: scott in georgia, the independent line. caller: how are you doing? good morning. i was calling -- we have seen all -- i saw biden yesterday, yeah. host: you will have to not listen to the television, you will have to pay attention to the phone. what did you think about the results from yesterday? caller: sorry about that. host: what do you think about the results so far?

caller: i am ecstatic. i do not understand why the republicans think everything is all void and this conspiracy thing, whatever they are thinking. they need to put some pants on. and ite seat, walk away, is time to leave the building. you are done. describingre you yourself as ecstatic? caller: you had to be down here. i couldn't believe it. this is a great time to be here. i thought it was. host: scott in georgia. now to savannah on the democrats line, brad. caller: happy new year. i have three points. georgia is not out of the woods yet. we are as divided as the rest of the country, maybe more so. i do not think that there are any true independents here.

and some of the conspiracy theories that have been bouncing around, i actually talked to a person who believed in the atlanta votes were weighted more heavily than their vote, because they came from atlanta. it is like to countries down here, atlanta and everybody else -- two countries down here, atlanta and everybody else. i but she would show a population density map of georgia. host: do you think it is a purple state as it stands today, especially after the results from last year and yesterday? caller: no, georgia is a blue state by population. a red state, clearly, by area. that's hard for some people to wrap their brains around. host: what do you mean by that? caller: if you look at the county where savannah is, it is surrounded by red counties. they have more livestock than

people. they do not understand because everybody they know voted republican. they do not understand why their vote did not count as much as savannah, you know, with twice the population. host: we will hear from annalee in georgia on the democrats line. caller: hi. i agree specifically with what he said, that it would be helpful to see a population count when looking at the maps. but what i want to say is to the people who support donald trump, what i do not understand is that we have a constitution and leave vote for the president. we do not vote for a man based on that person, we vote on his policies and what he will do to help the nation overall. and so, what i keep on hearing is these peopele, that somebody

that does not support his policies, it does not mean they do not like him as a person or whatever. i do not like him at all. but that was my point. and i hope that we have jon ossoff win. i'm happy to hear that raphael warnock has. i think we are moving in the right direction for our country. one: annalee from georgia, of the many georgians giving comment on the state of the race in the runoff election. we have shown you the boards, some of the boards with the results during the morning as far as the state of the race. we take those numbers from the associated press. as they put them in their systems, we can show you what is happening in real time, what is going on as far as that. bill on her independent line from illinois, you are next. hello.

caller: thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to say that i am ecstatic about the results. the you know, if republicans want to make and decide that our elections are fake and they want to follow donald trump into the abyss and say everything is fake, don't be surprised when people who know it's not fake are going to vote like hell. and look what we have as a result, we have a new president, we have a new senate, we have the wins in georgia. host: only one has been claimed the victor, the state of the race between jon ossoff and

david perdue is a still outstanding. caller: technically, but it will not be. jon ossoff is going to win. the statistics are more than overwhelming for him. whyi just do not understand the republicans now think that everything is fake. know, then they do not ever have to vote ever again. that's infine. illinois. in ] another person wanting -- and another person wanting is a republican from kentucky, commenting he is watching the show today. we appreciate it. said thataller who the legislature sends electors. that's false.

many congresspeople watch this program on a daily basis, as part of what they are hearing from you, and what is going on. several things going on today. it is a large day politically. the joint session at 1:00 p.m. you can see the on c-span starting at 1:00 p.m. for our coverage of the vote counting process. there are the results yesterday from the georgia runoff elections. we are still waiting to see that. and there is a rally connected to the electoral college votes, the president expected to speak at that rally at 11:00 a.m. it is supposed to start around 7:30 a.m., but people are still gathering. you can see that on c-span2 during the course of the morning. missouri,kansas city, on the democrats line. caller: hello. god bless everybody. i want to make a remark, then i

will get off of here. the reason i was against trump, i was not against him as much as i am now, is because of manipulation of the facts. i want to give one anecdotal example. withhing in the ukraine the prosecutor that they constantly said we were interfering with ukrainian justice. ukraine,who was in the it was not because of biden he was investigating, the european union was trying to get rid of him. host: before we take a look at that, as far as the topics of today, you can comment on the races in georgia or maybe the counting of electoral college votes, if you can relay it to that. caller: in general, i am not putting the blame on trump,

because i think it started way back in when nixon was in. it is the manipulation of facts that has a so many of these people twisted, and i mean twisted, because this guy is a crook. i do not like trump. host: how does it relate to today? caller: we needed to get him out of there and thank god for georgia. host: linda on the independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want you to be aware of people in utah, they love and respect mitt romney. d is not alady sai representative of utah. i'm so ashamed of her. host: caller: three things. number one, thank you georgia.

the presidential election to the senate election, change is coming. two, in the senate today, kabuki theater will take base and the -- take place in the ofher of the deaf fissure the republican party will grow wider. that is what will happen today. very unfortunate they put all of their eggs in the truck basket. in pennsylvania, we have our own funds. sitstate senate refused to -- seat a democrat who was but wasby a slim margin elected by the people. very similar to what donald trump has accused of the democrats stealing election.

the republicans have accused this gentleman of not being the legitimate person to take that seat. host: how is your state going to resolve that? caller: that is going to be interesting because the state senate is republican dominated. yesterday they actually throughout the the tenant governor presides over the senate in the same way mike pence has with the u.s. constitution. they threw john federman out of the discussion because they believe he was ruling in favor of the gentleman who wants to be seated. it is going to require a great statef push here in the for them to rectify the situation. host: that is josie in pennsylvania giving us a call. thank you to all of you who called this morning. thank you for participating. you heard the caller talk about the joint session. your purchased savior going to

show it to you at 1:00. our next guest will talk about all the mechanics, details, what to expect as far as these challenges and anything else. john fortier, a resident scholar of the brookings institute. joining us to take your questions about this joint session. we will have that conversation when "washington journal" continues. ♪ are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable american -- cable companies in 1979. today, we are brought to you by these companies who write c-span as a public service -- who provide c-span as a public service. >> today, the joint session of congress will count electoral college votes in the 2020 presidential election. senate of the house and

expected to challenge the certified 2020 election results. follow the process as the votes are counted, objections debated by members of the house and senate and a winner confirmed. live coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. watch live, streaming, or on-demand at c-span.org listen on the c-span radio app. >> use your mobile devices and go to c-span.org for the latest video, live and on-demand to follow the transition of power. trump, president-elect joe biden, news conferences, and event coverage. that and more at c-span.org. >> "washington colonel" continues -- "washington journal" continues. a scholar fortier is at the american enterprise institute.

thank you for joining us today. guest: thank you for having me. host: can we start with what your expectations are as far as the events today compared to anything historically as far as something happening like this? voted ine voters november, the states resolved their elections. the electors of the electors of electoral college voted in december. what you will see today is a joint session of congress, both the senate and the house together in one session with the vice president siding, -- presiding, and they will open and catch those votes. we usually don't have a lot of controversy but there can be objections. what you're going to see today are some objections. the history of that goes back over 100 years. there was a law in 1887 that governs the count.

in 1969 there was any objection over a particular matter of a faithless objector -- a faithless voter. somerats have made objections in 2000, 2000 -- 2004, and 2016. the process for that is a house member and a senator would both have to sign on to a written objection. names will be read starting for medically with alabama. presented, the objection can be made. i will expect we will have objections and it sounds like we will have an objection like we did in 2004 and 1969 where a house number and a senator sign onto that objection. if that is the case, we split that back to the house and the senate separately.

they consider the objection for a couple of hours and come back with results. it would both have to agree to slit ofut sleep -- a electors -- a slate of electors. it would pass as it passed with the electoral college. host: everyone is looking to the vice president today and asking questions about what he can and cannot do during this process. can you spell that out? president vice resides over the joint session of congress. -- presides over the joint session of congress. the log is a little bit more detail -- the law gives a little bit more detail. in general, the vice president does not have strong powers to affect the outcome. he is not going to question the body, the house and senate and make their own objections and

decisions. i don't expect both from what i heard from vice president hence -- pence that he will play a major role. his role is majorly ministerial. the votes will be open and read. he will announce those results. real objections would come from the senate and the house separating and perhaps agree on an objections not from the vice president. host: we have heard the president say the vice president does have powers to intervene. you are saying there is nothing within the law divided 40 vice president that gives inevitability? the gist of the constitutional law is that the vice president does not have these types of powers. generally in congress, anyone who is it presiding officer of could be overruled by

the house and the senate. i don't believe the vice president is going to get into controversies that will wire that. were a ruling, perhaps the house and senate could find ways to disagree. i think his role is in the background. people have tried to make more or less of it in times. i think it is a lesser role. host: our guest with us to take your questions about this joint session taking place today, the counting of electoral college votes. you can ask questions. 202-748-8000 for democrats, 202-748-8001 for republicans, and independents 202-748-8002. you can text your questions or thoughts at 202-748-8003. if you want to post on twitter and facebook, you can do that, too. when it comes to the breakoff and debate that will take place in these objections are raised,

what is the substance of what has to be offered to make the objections? a house member and a senator have to be on an objection and it has to be written. 2000 with the florida recount and then in 2016 with donald trump's election that many democratic house members made objections but not having a senator agree to it. it was al gore who lost the election and joe biden was a chair in two dozen 16 and made the ruling following the law that that objection would not be heard unless a senator agreed to it. gist of what the objection is is that the vote is not regularly given or was not certified properly. often embers try to make a longer speech about issues they with the counting and

problems in a particular state. the chair usually stops them because it is not a time for debate. it is just time to resent any objection to present an objection -- to present an objection. in that joint session, it really is just a simple presentation of the objection. the senate president, the vice president in this case, is likely to cut off remarks about why they are making that objection at least in longform. 2005, stephanie tubbs jones going to the house with a desk any objection about voter a regular case -- about voter regularities.

she was off mike for a portion of this but here is a little bit of wood played in 2000 and five. [video clip] >> for what person does the member from ohio rise. >> [indiscernible] >> has a senator sign the objection -- signed the objection? >> a senator hassan signed the objection -- a senator has signed the objection. >> the clerk will report to the objection. >> a member of the house of representatives and the united states senator object to the counting of the electoral votes of the state of ohio on the ground they were not under all of the known circumstances regularly given.

jones,stephanie tubbs state of ohio. barbara boxer, state of california. >> are there further objections to this certificate from the state of ohio? the chair hears none. the two houses will withdraw from the session liberated separately on depending objection and report decision back to the joint session. the senate will not retire to its chambers. host: that is back in 2005. putting irregular teas with the topic of the day and senator hawley used it as a basis for justifying his plans to raise those concerns. what you think about the historical model there and what is going to happen today? guest: 2005 was one of the two times since this law was passed

we had objections that have gotten to the point of a local senator and a representative agreeing and the house is dividing. in 1969, or procedural. 2000 -- 2005 was about the state of ohio which was not articulate close. george w. bush won it clearly. but the democratic representative and others had objections to the voting process and how hit it on. -- and how it had gone. had that been sustained by the house and senate and the votes of the electoral -- and the electors thrown out, that could have given it to john kerry or the house of representatives. would have been substantial if that had been upheld. this is a rare thing.

the point of the electoral college and the laws that flush it out is that the states make the decision as to our -- as to how their elections went. was, it the process resulted in appointing these electors and they cast votes. now is a time for congress to count and mostly just count as how they see them. if they see some irregularity and what to raise them, they can bring them. it should be more about how the electors voted and not about the state wants us. but in 2004 we saw that. members of commerce might be raising questions about the whole voting process and whether it was legitimate and whether these electors should be accepted. i don't expect those will be upheld. i think the vote will go forward with the same totals we have now. the likelihood is we will have something like 2004.

perhaps several states with objections dividing the house, taking longer -- dividing the house and senate taking longer. for throwing votes out those electors that we saw in 2004. but at the end of the day, not a root -- not a majority of both chambers which is what is art. host: john fortier of the american enterprise is to -- institute. our first call is wallace in savannah, georgia. democrats line. go ahead with your question or comment. caller: congratulations to rev. warnock winning the chair for the election. americans are being divided. people want to fight and kill one another. if you're going to fight among ourselves what will be due when china or russia takes over.

trump is destroying this country. the people don't know me so why are we going to fight one another? there was a fair election, joe biden won hands down. there is a black lady behind by the. -- behind joe biden. host: you have a question about the counting of votes today? caller: i think the votes will be counted fairly and they have already been capped at several time. -- have been counted several times. every time the person they don't want to win wins they change the game. i want to go into all the ways our country is divided i will go one way. we have seen objections in this process to the votes whereas we have not seen them in the 100 years before with one exception.

it has become more regular part of our process which i'm not sure is a good thing. today we will see more substantial objections than we have. i don't think those will succeed and that the vote count while it may be extended and there may be some heated rhetoric in the divisions of house and senate, at the end of the day i think the result will be as be expected as came out of the electoral college boats. leslie on theo, independent line. caller: i just wanted to ask if there is a realistic process by which the republicans could force this candidate audit? if there is not a realistic process by which they could do

that, what would the process be to make that happen in general in any election? host: thank you. that ted is right in cruz and a group of senators that push this forward is that making this objection, there might be a compromise that we would stop the count were slowly count and have a 10 day look at the problems in elections in several states. i think that idea is loosely based on what happened in our 1876 election. it was one of the most contentious elections we had. we could not. -- we could not agree. we appointed a commission and that commission was more serious then what senator cruz might be talking about in that it was supposed to resolve the votes in the states and come up with

.esults whatnk the details of senator cruz and others have proposed is unclear whether they would seek a recess and pass a new law that would have this process. the law does not have something it to delay the process for this purpose. congress in. inld -- congress could theory find a way to have a law but i don't think they have much leverage. i don't think it will have the votes in the house and senate to get out of this process to pass the lock. i don't think we're good to -- to pass the law. i don't think we are going to see that. there are other ways this could be looked at more informally by congress, the states, by outsiders. i think that is more likely than that congress stops the process and returns to it later on.

i think we're going to go forward with this process possibly late into the night but have a result without that audit in some hours. host: let's hear from eva, columbia, mississippi. caller: to the governors have to certify this before the electoral votes go from each state and if there's any question between the senate and house, does the governor of each state become involved in it again? do they have any future role? thank you for taking my call. host: thank you. guest: it is a great question. one thing we have not talked about which was discussed earlier and i don't think will happen though there was talk about it is could we be faced electors.ets of there have been some states where group of electors have come together, republican

electors in states where democrats have appointed electors, and they have cast votes and hoping they would get sanction from a court or legislature where they could be considered. if those come forward, it is a question of how we will deal with them. if we were really faced with two had some electors that sanction of the state action, a governor's signature or a legislature appointed, the law does favor the state electoral certificates the governor signed. how that would all play out i think is murky. i don't think we would see that today. says that thenly onernor's signature is the that would be favored. hopefully we don't get to that, but if it get to that point the governor's signature is

significant. host: the president set out this tweet and he says "states want to correct their votes which they know were based on irregularities and fraud plus correct processes but never received legislative approval. all mike pence has to do is send it back to the states and we win. mike, this is a time for extreme courage." guest: i think we have seen slates thatative have been put forward. they were hoping for some certification from state legislators who said they support that but we have not had sanction on it. presidentink vice mike pence -- i don't think he is going to make a ruling that will throughout electors. that is pretty clear that if

something were to be done, objections would be made by the house and senate. ones who havethe to sustain those objections. going back to the states is not an option at this point. we had the state process, they appointed electors. what is considered here is are we going to cap those slates -- count those slates as they have been presented. you might have to decide between two slates of electors. the vice president's power here is limited and if you made a ruling i think congress would have the ability to overrule or have their way. they have more power than the vice president. host: we have a viewer off of twitter who asks this question "how money votes are needed to sustain any objection? is it an majority -- is it a

majority or more?" guest: it is a majority. for example, if the arizona challenged, both of house would have to vote majority and the senate majority to agree to the objection to throughout the votes. unlikelyhat is very because of the divisions of the house and senate. i think many republicans may vote for those objections but i'm not sure all of them will. we may have majorities in both houses saying no to the objections. i think it is unlikely put it would require the house and senate to agree to the objection. host: we will hear from wayne in missouri. independent line. caller: it looks like socialism has come to the u.s. government so the proper tomb -- proper term for the president would be "comrade."

that is my opinion. host: we will go to roberta in tampa, florida. democrats line. i don't for the have a statement. -- i don't have a question but i have a statement. ourn't understand why democracy is allowing all of this to happen. we all know there is a problem and we know who the problem is and why is it continuing? host: that is roberta in tampa, florida. in -- president trump is is president until january 20. biden is going to be the president january 20 at noon. the process for the election does have parts to it. the putting of the people in

november and the resolution of those elections other states, the casting of the electoral votes, and today is the culmination of that. congress counts the votes. i expect that vote will go for joe biden with the numbers we saw counted by the electors. , the termw more weeks of the winner of the election will begin and i expect that will be joe biden. host: a viewer texted this question, "how will the joint congress meet "will they disregard social distancing -- meet? will they disregard social distancing or will they social distance with members in their office on zoom?" house,we have seen the

being a larger body, has social distancing conventions with smaller numbers coming to vote at certain times. we also saw in the opening of congress and the swearing in of members, not all of those precautions were taken. we are not absolute sure. in the joint session, that is a lot of people, they might not all have to be there. if we go to objections in the house and senate, it would be interesting to see whether the votes are taken in a more traditional way or whether they would do it in groups of people. that will take a while no matter what. longer ifake even using covid precautions. debate might be followed by a long enough time

to resolve those before coming back to the joint session. host: 1:00 this afternoon is when that session is set to convene. you can watch it on c-span or on c-span.org. you can listen on our free radio app. john fortier joining us for this discussion. in massachusetts, republican line, steve. caller: excellent and informative segment. i have a comment on the first caller, a gentleman from savannah. he made any analogy that the game has been played and we are changing the rules. i disagree. the game is american to some -- the game is american democracy. the game has been played, the election of a president. our side, the republicans have pulled out the red flag and we want an replay. that is what this is. the rules are not changing, we

are playing by the rules. we root for our own team, may the best team win. this is all proper process under our constitution. this is what makes us a great country. it has always been contentious ore hamilton shot burr -- the other way around. onardless which side you are , we will all survive and make it through this. host: that is steve. john fortier, go ahead. guest: whether you think it is a to make theseot objections, it is provided in the law. ,e have seen some instances especially in recent history of these objections being made. more divisions, more votes, more objections, but it is laid out in the law. a house member and a senate member agreed to make the

objection and then the bodies consider those suggestions and come back to a joint session with the resolution. it is part of the process. perhaps we will take longer this time because we will have multiple divisions of the house and senate. that we have not seen before at least in the last 100 years. we will have a resolution. i expect the results what change but i expect these objections will proceed according to the law. host: diana in pennsylvania, democrats line. i have been listening this morning and also watching the results of the georgia election. there is a power struggle in this country. it is frightening me. it doesn't matter anymore about , it ises for whatever all about power.

the two democrats and the republicans have squared off in a power struggle in this country and it is trump who is the leader of the band. what this man has done to this country in the last four years is just amazing to me that we could be this divisive. i would like for everybody in congress to look into their hearts and find out what is best for the american people and stop this power stroke. thank you. host: thank you. guest: i'm not sure the power struggle is going to stop altogether. i think today will be contentious. especially as objections are raised and debates happen about them in the house and senate.

there will be a time for republicans looking to make these objections to make their case for what the problems were in the election. i don't think it will be successful, but it will be a time to make that case and it time for democrats to respond. we saw a little bit of that in 2004. the debate in the house and the senate, there were people on both sides arguing the merits of the election process in ohio or other actors related to the election. i think we will see some differences in the parties expressed as to how the election wait, what went wrong, at what we should do in the future. host: we will take you back to anyway sixth, 2001. it was al gore providing -- presiding over the senate. here's what happened as that finished up. [video clip] >> the state of the vote for the

president of the u.s. is as follows. the whole numbers of the electors to vote for the president is 538 of which majority is 270. george w. bush of the state of texas has received for president 271 votes. al gore of the state of tennessee has received 266 votes. the state of the vote for vice president as delivered to the president of the senate is as follows, the whole number of electors appointed to vote for the vice president is 538 of which a majority of 270. dick cheney of wyoming has received for vice president 271 votes. joe lieberman of connecticut has received 266 votes.

this announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the u.s. each for the term beginning on january 20, 2001 and shall be answered with a list of the votes on the journals of the senate and the house of representatives. may god bless our new president and our new vice president and may god bless the united states of america. [applause] context inhat in terms of contentious times with the counting of the electoral college votes as we saw that play out in 2000 and 2001 and the lessons that can be applied today. guest: what we saw was the culmination of the joint session after all the objections had been heard. the final vote total was announced.

two thousand was a contentious election and because of the recounting in florida that went on for some time, one we felt was not revolved resolved frequently, and there were -- resolved quickly, and their work differences of opinions. al gore conceded the election after that long process. didhe vice president, you not see this but earlier in the session there were plenty of objections from democratic numbers relating to florida -- democratic members especially relating to florida. none of those were seconded by senators so they were quickly put off by the vice president. told there was no time for debate and let's move on to the next objection. there was a lot of controversy that day. i expect we will see something more like 2004 and maybe on a larger scale where there are

some objections that occur by the house and senate. we will get something like what we just saw where the vice president will sit in the chair and announce the results of all the added up states in the electoral college and likely they were not changed by any act of congress. will be the final signal that this vote counting process is over and we will await the inauguration of a new president. host: joseph in florida, democrats line. you are on with john fortier. go ahead. my mind, mulling over what is going on today and what has been going on regarding these objections, etc. my take is as follows. i think these people know they will not succeed. they are planting seeds for the

near future, maybe two years or four years where they can appeal to a certain group of people by saying the election was taken away and stolen. i think that is very dangerous strategy -- a very dangerous strategy. whowell-known historian brings us back to germany in the 1930's when the third reich came to power by saying we didn't really lose the war, the war was taken away from us. they begin to blend the jewish people, etc. we know that side of history. there is a movement afoot in the u.s. called "national popular vote." my question would be if we did have a national popular vote, would these shenanigans -- with these shenanigans being , could they have

been avoided? guest: it is a good question. we have had people who have been interested in changing the electoral college in all of our history. one of the proposals has typically been to go to a straight national popular vote instead of voting in the electoral college process. that requires an a constitutional amendment. it is hard to do. referringe caller is to any initiative that aims to get a national popular vote with in -- with in the system of electoral college. -- for joeornia had voted biden but donald trump won the vote,al popular california with cap it's votes

for donald trump instead of joe biden. what that would effectively do -- enough states have passed laws like this. there would be a majority of electoral college's in the state to vote for the national popular vote winner. if we do go that route, the process we see today will not be changed. we will still have electoral's and congress will have to count them. perhaps there will be questions about these individual state matters. a strict popular vote by a constitutional amendment would change things to medically. the -- change things dramatically. it would not change all of the machinery of the electoral college. i think it would be a mix of the procedures. indiana, kevin is on our life. i am an independent but

i called through on the republican line. vote, ifg the national improprieties in this current vote, that would not change anything because that would still be a problem. one of my comments is that if you look at effort being put forward -- at this effort being put forward to condemn the process that has taken place in a few of the states, the evidence has supposedly been presented. i think a problem inh a lot of people my age the 60's and on social security, we see the democrat party putting forth bills that include money going to other countries and things like that. we talk about social security problem here soon and there is a

not enough money being put in so i will have to take a discount later on. relation to the electoral college votes, can you relate your question or comment to that? we have this big concern. is that theren have been improprieties in the electoral college vote, it is not going to fix that because no one wants to look at the evidence. , evidence about truth in law gets us to that truth. let's look at that truth before we vote. host: this kevin. go ahead john fortier. are very concerned about how the election was run, certainly in certain states.

there are particular concerns this time. generally speaking, those worries about the election should be resolved at the state process with the state's election, three counts, challenging to the state courts. that culminates in a certificate -- certified election. people whoe many disagree with those decisions that led to that certification and changes you would propose and how we run elections in states. thateven some injustices -- maybe even some injustices that they feel they could resolve. once we get to the point of finalizing those state's returns, that was a state's final decision as to who was elected as president of the united states this type.

congress this time. -- this time. congress has difficulty going behind those results and publish should not. -- and probably should not. they will have full it if there are objections. resolutionthat was a of those details of whether we should have -- the books were cap to properly, there was a process -- the votes were counted properly. general a little more looking at the electoral votes passed, not so much that process. there's not room for congress to undo those. they can make objections and throughout something they find given, butegularly they can't add new electors, they can't rerun the election, they can't litigate those issues

leading up to the certification in the states. host: what happens to the paperwork that comes to congress once it has been certified? guest: there are multiple copies. the archivist keeps the paperwork and you can go online and see much of it and see the actual certificates of the votes and certificates of ascertainment including what the states said with the final vote between joe biden and donald trump. if you go to the archivist and the website you will find much of that information about this election cycle as well as our past election cycle. host: loretta joins us from florida, democrats line. you are on with john fortier, go ahead. caller: i have a question about the constitution. i think some of the articles and amendments need to be looked at and possibly updated so they are

comprehensive for this day and time so they clarify what they are saying. we can't know what the founders thought back then. the times have changed and circumstances have changed. things need to be black and white in specific terms. guest: i think it is a good point. there is a question of if you amend the constitution because you want the national popular vote or some other form. there's also the question of if the constitution is a specific enough. in some ways it is general, especially today when it talks about the votes being counted and being presided over by the vice president. we have fleshed out many of the in 1887,n a law passed

amended and changed a little bit over the years. essentially it is the same. even without law, there might be some more obscure cases where there would be ambiguity. i think it is better to provide clarity. amending the constitution is difficult. changing that law is probably also difficult and i'm not sure we will resolve all those things. the basis product -- the basic process is put forward and congress is given the opportunity to count those votes and the objections put forward. virginia, independent line. robert, hello. go ahead. caller: i'm a veteran. . am nonpartisan , am a fan of the constitution i defended it for a living.

was notas active duty i a decision-maker. ofooked to the chain command, especially my commander .n chief and the vice president we are faced with extraordinary circumstances where we are dealing with the pandemic. in the u.s., there are over 100,000 people who lost their lives. i don't have the actual numbers but couple 100,000 people have lost their lives. there are guys who are leaving office due to the process put forth. to thes it relates counting of votes today, do you have a question or comment about that? caller: i sure do. since the vice president is the , can he enactnate

calls to say we are not going to do this until the pandemic is through? we will leave it there and let our guests respond. guest: i don't believe the vice --sident 10 act unilaterally the vice president can act unilaterally. we do split into the house and senate to consider that,ions, in 2005 we did he actually stepped aside and let the president pro tem presided over the senate session although he could have presided. give theant to impression that the president of the senate senate or whoever is

in the chair if the ruler of the house of the senate. the body, the house and the senate, have the key say of the majority. they are able to overrule the chair. i think the constitution and the law itself does not give the vice president much leeway. he does not get to put random questions to the body. he is a simile anymore ministerial fashion to announce -- he is there anymore -- in a fashion toerial announce the results of each state. he is not there to make the decisions. if he were to stray and make big decisions, i think the house and senate would find a way to exert their power which is more substantial than the vice president's power. host: let's hear from delaware, but republican line. good morning.

republicansink the who do not stand up and object to this will go down in history as traitors for handing our country over to socialism. i don't think they have the right to do that to our children. if we do have this division of the house and senate , a senator and house number , members in the past have made their views known. some may have abstained or not objectede, but others or said they would uphold the objection. the majority of the house and senate with members on the record set they would not favor objections. if you have any division -- a

division, they will be on the record as to how they voted. host: from steve in ohio, independent line. good morning. caller: i have two questions. 2004, when stephanie tubbs jones , wastted her complaint that for distant check -- disenfranchisement? it was not accepted. georgia, i saw a piece where almost 200,000 people were disenfranchised by the secretary of state there. redress through the

judicial but it was just a discussion and the secretary of to redress it. these were people that took off the voting list that were still on the voting list. what is their redress for that? is the secretary of state in georgia held accountable for disenfranchising those voters? host: thank you. guest: in the 2004 election which led to the 2005 counting, in a joint session, the objections are with the stated. when we split into the house and senate, there was more time for debate. made aie tubbs jones case about disenfranchisement.

they had five minutes to lay out .heir case -- many other democratic andtors came to the floor said nice things about the objection and worries about the process of ohio but they did not book to the objection. it is possible the numbers will take one course or another. there's a time for them to state their problems with the election process related to that objection in the house and senate. decisions of these states are made and they are resolved by december 14 during the electoral votes. that does not mean they cannot change the laws and change the administration process by looking back at the election.

most of that should be resolved by the states by december 14. there is some opportunity for to statef congress what they found problematic with the state's election certificates and why they are making this objection. this is aaron in pennsylvania, democrats like. good morning -- democrats line. good morning. caller: does president trump put mike pence has power to just give it to one person? does he really believe that or is it just some hail mary play? -- ishe constitution have clear about what power he does have. there is no power about whether

he gets to pick. interest't it great that this president is giving all the people in washington today false hope that anything other than joe biden being named the president is going to happen? these people are angry. just pick up their ball and go home? they are really mad. and the president is tweeting out that the vice president can do something when we know he can't. guest: i can't tell what is in 's head.ident most candidates have conceded at this point and donald trump has not conceded yet. i don't think the vice president has the powers the president is saying he does. ishink it is clear that it

not laid out in great detail. some have picked up on small instances where the vice president has made a ruling in the house and senate or on minor matters. he is sitting in the chair so there is potentially some power. i think probably speaking, the role of the vice president is more ministerial to sit there at the ports -- as the votes are counted and not change the outcome. host: joey in illinois, republican line. you are next. this has to do with holding people accountable whether it be the media, electoral votes, everything else. a lot that i hear is that there was a problem and we are going to figure it out for the next election. i'm wondering why we can't hold them accountable and figure this out right now instead of kicking the can down the road. you have the media which is ,iased, except for c-span

everybody is taking money. they kick the can down the road. is not there a way we can enforce states to enforce the laws they have for the elector process? you hear what happened with female in votes that weren't supposed to happen that way on his wisconsin but they pushed through real quick. it was supposed to go through their state legislation. they do it anyway and get away with it. that is the problem with what is going on. mediac can't hold the accountable for their opinions. there has to be a time when people are held accountable right now, not later. host: joey, thank you for the call. people agree with the

fact that there were problems and how the election was run. . -- there were issues with timing. not gohallenges did away. maybe they were decided wrongly or policy should be different. that is going to be hard to resolve in this period. proposed a have ten-day audit or looking at election results. i'm not sure we will get to an agreement on that. i think however you look at it, it is something we will have to consider after the election. there are opportunities to change the state laws and people who run elections to affect the course to some extent. those things will be brought up but it is hard to make those decisions about state policy,

whether things were done right or wrong or not, at this stage of the process. today is to count electoral votes cast by the electors, not so much to relitigate what happened in the states leading up to the appointment of the electors. what do you think the instances of this year as far as the cutting of these votes -- put it into perspective going forward as poor as the electoral college, its work, and the role of the vote in its work. guest: i think we will see a set probablyions today and several slates of electors being rejected to. it will be invoiced to the process than what we saw in 2005. i think we might see several divisions that will lead it into the night.

at the end of the day, operably following the process we have followed which call -- follows the law of the objections. toimately, how we get announcing the final foot count -- the final vote count. it will be announced at the end of that process by the vice president. host: our guest has written a book on the role of the electoral college vote, a guide to the electoral college. of the american enterprise institute joining us for this discussion where he serves as a resident scholar. thanks for your input and your time this morning. guest: thank you. host: our final hour will be like the first. you can call in and comment not only on the topic we just discussed when it comes to the counting of votes by the joint session at 1:00 this afternoon, or you can comment on the georgia senate runoff races.

raphael warnock defeating kelly loeffler in that race, jon racef and david perdue's yet to be determined. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. .ndependents (202) 748-8002 you can text us at (202) on-8003, post on twitter, or our facebook page. here to discuss both those in fit is is representative hank johnson of georgia, democratic from that state, serves the fourth district and we thank you for joining us this morning. rep. johnson: happy to be here and happy new year. host: thank you for that. your initial response to the results as we are seeing them play out in those runoff races in georgia? rep. johnson: i am ecstatic that we are on the verge of flipping the united states senate to the democrats and away from the

reaper, mitchrim mcconnell. it means so much for the nation. i'm not ready to claim the victory yet insofar as jon ossoff is concerned, but all indicators are looking good. there remained to be votes counted. stands for every boat being counted including provisional balloting. the healing process will start at -- the process will start at 9:00 this morning to make sure everyone that files provisional ballots has those ballots confirmed. we want to count every vote. we feel like when all of the votes are counted, jon ossoff is going to end up the winner against david perdue. he already has a 16,000 vote lead with a number of votes still to be tallied from dekalb county, fulton county, henry and county which are

three bastions of democratic votes. i think that margin will get larger and will probably exceed that which would require a recount. i'm really ecstatic this morning for the people of georgia and for the people of this nation. attribute to you georgians putting behind -- putting their faith behind to relative newcomers? rep. johnson: georgia represents the new south. it has accumulated at least one more congressional seed due to redistricting because of the number of people who have moved into georgia over the last 10 years. younger, theyre ,re more educated, more erudite more thoughtful, and they represent the new georgia. they represent the new south. we have things like the

entertainment industry, both film and music have exploded in georgia and people are moving there. it's a melting pot. it is reflected in the fact that georgia has been flipped from red to blue, not once for joe biden and kamala harris, but twice for rev. warnock and ultimately for jon ossoff. the rolet do you think that stacey abrams played in all this? rep. johnson: i want to thank her for her foresight, her tenacity, her energy, her vision. she started working on this prior to 2014, with a plan to register one million new voters in georgia. she did it despite the fact that republicans were kicking off voters from the voter rolls almost as soon as she could get them registered. the people at fair fight have continued to fight. it looks like the battle has

been one. her efforts are paying off. the citizens of the state of georgia, who went to the polls to vote ought to be congratulated. subject,ing to another when it comes to the joint session, do you plan to be part of that? rep. johnson: it's no question that georgia will be ground zero for this challenge to the electoral delegates. to be involved today in arguing for the sanctity of the was manifested by georgians going to the polls on -- ther 3, recounts votes were counted three times. no question about the fact that georgia had a clean election and the fact that joe biden and kamala harris won the election. votes,by a mere 12,000 but all you need is one to win.

that has been affirmed three times. it's been affirmed in court seven times. there is just simply no thelenge that is viable to counting of the delegates from georgia -- our president who never won the popular vote into elections has prevailed upon members of the republican party in the house and in the senate to raise votes -- or tohe the electoral college votes. it's going to end up being a meaningless exercise. it's going to waste a lot of time and be and result will be the counting of the ballots, which will show that joe biden and kamala harris one b electoral college as well as they won the popular vote, by a significant number. a landslide vote, the

popular vote and the electoral vote. your state came into focus with the phone call between donald trump and the georgia secretary of state. you're proposing an active censure for that, can you talk about where that is as far as that process? rep. johnson: that's the least we can do, to go on record as , and stringently opposed condemn wholeheartedly the attempt of donald trump, the last minute attempt of donald trump to interfere with the ,lectoral result in georgia trying to get the secretary to overturn a lawful election, trying to get him to violate the law. both federal and state. this censure resolution will put congress on record as condemning that behavior. it will leave a record of

congressional action that will for posterity. unfortunately we don't have time to impeach, convict, and remove this president, because he will be out of the white house in 14 days. this was the appropriate route in my opinion and we have over 100 cosponsors who believe that same thing. i hope we will get this resolution on the floor and get it passed. it won't be before the president leaves office, but it could happen after. host: representative hank johnson, representative from the state of georgia from the fourth district. thank you for your time. rep. johnson: thank you. host: you can comment on the joint session, the georgia , that joint session at 1:00 this afternoon. you can watch that on c-span as expectedly for many

hours today and maybe into tomorrow. place withing supporters of president in washington dc. the march already underway. you can watch that on c-span two if you wish and follow along on the website and the radio app. let's hear from john in charlotte, north carolina on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning and thanks bring an opinion. when it comes to representative johnson he conveniently left out a whole lot of other things, videos, loss of chain of custody and the list goes on down in georgia. is justy knows that he preaching the head side of the coin and not the tales. that guam caninks capsize. take that into account. here's the issue.

the issue is, these states in the legislatures did not put into their codified statutes for the officers to do this actions they did. online that's ever gone to the code of any state, they long,ok and see how precise, and meticulous these codes are. offices and certain activities are given leeway to facilitate things. when it comes to an election, these statutes are very specific. those representatives and senators that will raise those issues this afternoon, that something you support? caller: yes sir i do. if you think about theoretically, when those

secretaries of state and other officers went around the legislature when it came to the explicit language of how they were supposed to vote in the elections, they basically invalidated the entire election. vote't think any electoral should be credited coming from those states. will hear from our democrat line in canonsburg, pennsylvania. caller: i hear a lot of grasping at straws today. the only reason that there is going to be turmoil in washington, d.c. is because of the people marching. those senators and congressmen would not say a word unless they thought those people wanted that. thatisturbing thing about is how donald trump plays these people like a drum. i can remember a rally where he mentioned to kim jong-un and they started booing. then he said "no, we are in

love." then these people shut up like mindless automatons. it's time that people open their eyes to see this. i just don't understand the whole business and has people. if he told them the day after tuesday was friday they would believe it. overcome by a country of pro wrestling champs. goingthat rally currently on on c-span two. hollywood, florida on the republican line. leon, hello. caller: how are you? for the to comment, but caller that made the statement about he doesn't see what trump supporters see in him, what we see in him is a man who loves our country. a billionaire that did not have to become president, but he did that to save our country. with that said i'm commenting on statements another collar made

that mike pence does not have the authority to decertify the election. in the constitution he absolutely, most certainly does has thet right, he right and he also has the power and the responsibility to do that. host: where in the constitution does it say that? caller: i don't know that. i'm not good with numbers. but it's there. for the gentleman who called on the republican line, what he said is true. these states went around their legislatures to do this early voting thing. now they left it wide open for fraud right there. , whatstates that did that should happen and probably will happen today is mike pence can and probably will choose to not count those electors. host: and if he doesn't? neither candidate will

have the 270 that will force it into the house for a boat where each state gets one vote, 47 republican states, 20 republican states. host: let's hear from michael in woodbridge, virginia on the democrat line. caller: hello, how are you? i am calling for a couple of points. the first point is donald trump is an overt racist. took therams government in georgia, the electoral to the cleaners and taught them a lesson. the lesson is, you do not steal -- try to steal and suppress votes in any place. it doesn't matter whether south or north. that she made a point, she made her point and her business to get every single vote out to win that state. second point is.

mitch mcconnell can now take a backseat. he has been writing that wave for a number of years, now he gets to have a seat and be the minority leader, and i hope he is listening. host: that is not determined as of yet. caller: i know, i got you. believe me, i got you. but it will happen, that's my feeling and my hope. about this electoral thing happening today, that is going to be a farce. people who are calling who think that is a proper process, they don't know the law and they don't know government. host: that's michael in woodbridge, virginia giving us his thoughts. the current minority leader of the senate, chuck schumer, making several statements regarding the election on twitter. he posted something on his twitter feed that just says the term buckle up. but also making a comment on the state of races in georgia.

the jon ossoff race not determined, though he still has a lead, but not officially called as the winner of that race. it stands at 50 .2% for jon ossoff versus david perdue, the republican incumbent at 49.8%. senator schumer releasing the statement saying "it feels like a brand-new day, for the first time in six years the democrats will operate a majority in the u.s. senate and that will be good for the american people, senators elect jon ossoff and rafael warnock ran first rate campaigns and will be outstanding senators for georgia. vice president biden and vice president -- ready and able to achieve a forward-looking agenda and deliver help and bold change to the people of america. for too long much-needed help has been stalled or delayed by an republican led senate. will change with a democratic house, senate, and white house."

currently stands with jon ossoff in the lead. the other runoff race, rafael warnock being declared the winner according to the associated press and others in his race versus republican incumbent kelly loeffler. steven in connecticut, you are next on our independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. georgia,ge victory in even though jon ossoff is leading with 16,000 votes, i expect that to grow. what i would like to see in the rightsis the civil voting acts, the john lewis voting acts get past. an attorney general that will -- i would like marek garland to be the attorney general. i know people are for doug jones

, and i contributed to doug jones's campaign. i believe in redemption, forgiveness, people who tried and failed can get back up and do it again. that's why i like the merrick garland story. i think he would be the civil rights attorney general eric holder was. i think that is very important. ton reach across the aisle mitt romney, susan collins, and pass meaningful infrastructure legislation. tradeing that we can all on. we might not get the whole loaf, but half a loaf is not bad. host: chris in atlanta, georgia on the republican line. caller: [indiscernible] first, as far as they georgia races, you are talking to somebody who talked to workers

from at least one of the campaigns. remember, twice for the other. i tried to warn them their presentation -- performance was poor, i could see in a month ago. i told them if they didn't change it they would fail, and they failed. i feel kind of indicated that way. their presentation, their tv ads, everything. that's part of the georgia gop's problem, they need a remodel. the caller who said trump is a racist, ok. [indiscernible] you got no basis for that. as far as it goes, the georgia election, november, i paid attention to a lot of the evidence. it has not been debunked. a lot of judges just don't want to get involved and that's historical, judges don't like getting involved in elections. host: what happened that was

questionable? caller: i said the november 1. we haven't had this one long enough to see evidence. host: did you vote yesterday? caller: no, i voted early. i don't want to waste time on that. host: we are going to move on. bobby in broken arrow, oklahoma. democrats line. this is a really interesting time. whatted to comment on, would have been the republican reaction if, because hillary clinton lost lost a donald trump we just decided that we were going to accept it, we were going to use our leverage in the senate and have people like bernie sanders objecting and trying to have joe biden at the time just say "never mind, donald trump didn't win, we decided hillary clinton would be president. -- would be president."

for all of their suggestions for all of these secret shadow conspiracies, how did the democrats spend four years out of power if everything is some secret conspiracy to seize power? i have to add that the guy who was from georgia that said that republicans didn't run a very good campaign, i think that's an understatement. plan to connect to the poor during the pandemic was to put on a plaid shirt. int: we will go to ken montana on the democrats line. caller: good morning. my contention is that we all know republicans and democrats, that donald trump is a snake. the republicans feeding on him being -- feeling on him being a snake is that he is the common getsn-variety of snake who the votes and make a garden

bugs,ier, he gets rid of meaning the rules and regulations that he disbanded. my contention is that donald trump is a cross between a pit viper and a constrictor. tot: how does that relate the counting of electoral college votes or the georgia senate race? caller: let me finish. by being a constrictor he is squeezing the life out of our democracy. -- theezing the wife life out of our democracy he killingishes it off by it with a pit viper strike. this is what he is trying to do in our voting, right now with by votes in georgia and trying to get mike pence to ruling, the complete

the ruling and the complete voting as we have had it. host: frank in grayson, georgia on the republican line. caller: i want to make it quick. two things. president biden, his election, he won't complete his term. there will be another massive deployment to the middle east. us outas trying to get of this global police man rolled, but now we are going to go right back into that. our blood, our money. the georgia election, 70,000 people registered to vote in this runoff. who are they, where did they come from? the republicans need their investigation just like they dragged this man through the mud. host: when you say who are they and where did they come from what are you implying? caller: i'm implying that these were college students that came here, they probably voted twice, they voted in their home state and in georgia. that needs to be investigated.

democrats got their investigation, republicans need theirs. host: what convinces you of that? caller: it needs to be investigated. host: you said that. caller: just like the democrats got their investigation we need hours. the second issue, boater harvesting. that is what abrams did. she went around and went to all these homeless people and registered them to vote. pick them up in a bus and took them to the polls. that is illegal in the state of georgia. host: do you have evidence of that? do you have evidence of that? caller: if you will listen and you will have a trial you will find out. but they don't want to hear the truth. let's go to jack in florida on the independent line. caller: i just want to emphasize, i keep hearing trump supporters talk like there was no legal process, that there

state legislatures involved in the electoral, that there was no state supervisors that were republicans, but there were. the whole process, i admit there might have been some flaws, but in general in arizona and in georgia it was run by republicans. in michigannia and and wisconsin it was a combination of republicans and democrats. processre was a whole where the judges, the legal system tested the electoral think and it was found, i there were 60 cases and one case rejected the process that was selected. to imply that this was other solidly state run

election is just not right. texting us this morning from south carolina, this is mark saying "we the people and not the government should decide on what we need. we don't need -- we just need a governor -- if the government doesn't want to do this then we the people should force them under any means necessary." the constitution elaborates that today is the day where the house and senate meet in joint session to bring and consider electoral college votes, you have heard through the course of this morning about the objections, the reported objections to some results in those states. you can see that play out this afternoon on c-span or you can follow along on c-span.org. if you want to you can listen along on our free c-span radio app.

members of congress joining us to talk about the process as it plays out. joining us the republican from oklahoma who serves the second district. representative markwayne mullin joins us. as far asur role these reported objections to some of these states by members of congress? be. mullin: we will objecting to specifically four states, wisconsin, michigan, minnesota, and pennsylvania. basis, article two section one clause two. what we are basically objecting to is the way the electoral votes were received. in those states we think they went outside their latitude underneath the federal constitution on who chooses when, where, and how the electoral votes will be cast. when you have a governor or a

court, or you have even local officials that will decide when and how long they will receive ballots and how they will verify the ballots, that is outside their constitutional role. we will contest the electoral vote. host: you are signing onto a specific senator? rep. mullin: right now we have some of the senators that have signed on to two, the four states. we feel like we will end up receiving three senators -- three states that will be signed on, we may get four. i feel like we have good legal grounding and constitutional grounding to contest those states. host: throughout the course of the morning some have said that these issues should have been resolved on the state level before the electoral college votes were sent forward to be counted. rep. mullin: one of the biggest complaints donald trump has had in georgia is asking the secretary of state or even the governor to call a special session. in some of these states the only

way the legislators can get together is if the governor or the secretary of state will call for a special session and tell them they can't legally go back in until session happens. this is a process that a lot of state legislators during this timeframe are not in session yet. someone has to call them back. it been like, i have you heard from other republicans telling you not to go forward with that? rep. mullin: we have had a very constructive debate inside our conference. i values everyone opinion when it comes to this. --s isn't an apolitical we voted to uphold the constitution. onall have a different view a congressional role on accepting the electoral votes. i feel like this is something that all of us had to take a hard deep look at and stand up for the constitution on the way we perceive it should be looked at.

anything that happens outside of them changing the electoral vote in the way that the ballots are going to be casted and received outside of the state legislature on its base alone voids out everything else that took place. republican in the conference feel like that is not our role and that we are there to make sure the electoral vote is counted accurately on what the state sent to us. i think this is the most consequential vote that any of us will cast and we need to make sure we are doing what we believe is right constitutionally speaking. host: let me give you the opinion of represent a never liz cheney. "bywrote this in an op-ed objecting to the electoral slate members are unavoidably asserting that congress has the authority to overturn elections and overrule state and federal courts. ach objections set exceptionally dangerous press edition threatening states responsibility to steal states explicit constitutional

responsibility -- how would you respond to that. rep. mullin: she is a good friend of mine and i respect her opinion, i just adamantly disagree with her. by not objecting we are that the constitution does not matter when it comes into the fact that the state legislator starts to choose the election process. there is no question when we those fourng about states that other people influence the outcome of the election of how the ballots would be received then counted. if that is the case it's my job, the way that i feel, liz is completely welcome to her opinion and i respect her dearly. i doing nothing we are 100% being silent on the fact that that did or did not happen and accepting that anybody going forth at this point can make changes when they feel like.

host: do you think that the vice president is going to take more of a role than just proceeding over this in a ceremonial matter? rep. mullin: i don't read in the constitution where the vice president has the latitude that some people are saying he has. he is directed by members of congress. if we can test and we have one representative and senators signed on saying we are contesting, then he needs to follow the procedures set forth. if we go into separate chambers and have our debate and decide to accept or deny the objection, than the vice president follows whatever we come together and decide to give him when we convene as a whole again. process you think this as it plays out today will change the end results of president-elect biden becoming the president? rep. mullin: i think it's very difficult to keep in mind when we go into a debate once we

challenge certain states and we have a representative or senator sign on to it, if every republican voted together and of every democrat voted together it would be difficult for us to win because of a simple majority. on one voten move it has to be voted on and both chambers have to agree on each state and otherwise the electoral vote continues as is. i think it's a difficult matter. the idea is to make sure we have a secure election moving forward. no one debates that are regularities took place. regularity did take place. if we are in school and we get caught cheating on a test they don't simply do away with that one question we got caught on. they throw the whole test out, sometimes you get kicked out of class or the university. no one is debating a regularities took place. bill barr set a regularities took place but there was not enough that would predetermine or change the outcome of the election. what we want to make sure moving forward from this point is that

we have a secure election. what separates us from other democracies and makes us the greatest democracy is that we have always had confidence in our election system, we fed confidence in our vote being counted. there is not that same feeling moving forward and we want to change that. we showed what happened and how it happened so we have a secure and fair election moving forward. host: there is the potential of the senate turning to democratic hands after the georgia special runoff election. what does that mean for the house minority? rep. mullin: in both chambers you will see the closest margin we have since the 1800s, late 1800s. we have an opportunity to work together in a bipartisan manner, or you will see a great divide and a lot of bickering and nothing will move forward to the american people. blessedand i have been with multiple companies. we are either growing or dying, there's no such thing as staying still.

if we don't work together to move this country forward and set away the partisanship and put bipartisan in front and put the american people first as a country we can afford to sit still for two or four years. we need to work together. host: representative markwayne mullin of oklahoma, he serves the second district. we appreciate your time. we have a little less than half an hour of this program. you can make your calls and comments on not only the counting of electoral college votes which you heard the representative talk about, but the georgia special runoff elections as we have seen them play out. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. our social media sites are available. brenda in arlington, texas on the independent line. go ahead. caller: i have a question.

this objection for an audit that senator ted cruz is wanting, it atype of vote, is majority vote they have to have, or do they have to have a super majority or two thirds to put it into an audit? host: a previous segment addresses this, i believe it is a majority vote as far as objections are raised. caller: and the next one is just a statement. press for a lot of this unrest. if y'all had just not posted who won this and who one that, if untilhad just waited every state was done voting and may be reported this many people voted in this state, this many in this state, whatever.

-- kept theaccount count silent until every vote was counted we would've had a lot less upset. will show you the figures as far as the georgia special elections provided to us by the associated press as they come in and get updated. currently forate rafael warnock, the democrat who one. 50.6 percent of yesterday's vote in that runoff election over the republican incumbent kelly loeffler. what has yet to be determined is the race between the current republican incumbent david perdue versus jon ossoff. jon ossoff with the lead so far with 99% of precincts voting in with a 50.2% lead. allen in warren, ohio on the republican line. i just wish trump on the

russian deal had evidence. my question, pedro -- host: you are on, go ahead. --ler: my question was that that -- votes, thesentee military, where they counted already? host: i don't know that. caller: i was just wondering, but i don't think they did because what i heard this morning. there are 60,000 military boats and i wish trump -- the dossier turned out to be fake -- talk about evidence. i appreciate the call. the: in flint michigan on democrats line, you are on next. caller: good morning. the trump supporters that are calling in, they have been lied to by the president and all of these republicans who are

objecting. each elections were ran by individual state, many of which are controlled by republican , and joees of state biden won the election, the republicans in washington are trying to overturn the will of the people which is completely anti-democratic and moves against our constitution and what the founding fathers intended. i didn't vote for donald trump four years ago, but he was my president for four years although he had help from russia in my opinion. finally, if our votes don't count, as americans, how come we've already voted and the legislature in washington wants to overturn, that's not a democracy. i believe areans trying to create a dictatorship under president trump, and that's not what our constitution says. .inally i am a veteran hundreds of thousands of american soldiers have died on foreign soil for the freedom

that we enjoy, then you have a bunch of republicans sitting here trying to say my vote doesn't count, your vote doesn't count, if they disagree with it. they are losers and need to take the loss and move on. on twitter harrison says "with the senate split 50-50, vice president kamala harris just became the most important vice president in history." saying "theitter monday morning quarterback is airing grievances of the -- against the usual suspects, loeffler only did well because of -- did as well as she did because of president trump, terrible candidate." "iyou are on twitter saying have not studied rafael warnock, not sure what will happen, i believe changing out of the office of fresh new ideas and an application of those ideas sounds great, but please pay attention to the farming and industry there."

a couple of comments off of twitter. facebook at facebook.com/c-span. in wisconsin, mike on the independent line. caller: [indiscernible] -- a poll worker in many years -- [indiscernible] make it look like there was fake. it's creating a great divide in our state. and our country i mean. tot: by the way, if you go the editorial pages of the milwaukee journal sentinel, they highlight the potential actions of today of senator ron johnson, the editors write, the johnson stunt will do harm to our democracy. what happens the next time either party loses the presidency narrowly while controlling both houses of congress, will they do what

johnson and his hyper-partisan anbar doing? will they make up lies about the election, cry voter fraud, complain about voting machines, election officials, and any other ghost they can conjure?" rosario in massachusetts on the democrat line. caller: yes, hello. host: the first thing you need to do is turn down that television. caller: good morning. host: the first thing you need to do is turn down your television sir. go ahead. about them calling vote today in congress. all mike pence needs to do is go he is just like the referee in the impeachment, he has no say or nothing. president trump wants to create a civil war against the people. he is doing anything to stay out

of jail. died.0 americans have host: you think that vice president pence will go beyond his role today? he is just as bad as trump. they will have really big problems in washington. if they want to create a civil , we are ready to fight for our independence. this is not russia, we are in the united states of america. host: that is rosario giving us a call. if you were to go outside of the capital, there is a rally taking place. it is sponsored by supporters of donald trump, mr. trump expected to appear later on today. if we can we will dip into a bit of the rally. >> because he doesn't know anyone forgetting him here,

because you put him right here in the white house. not once, but twice. [applause] we were all there through this 2020 election cycle. we have seen these crowds. biden. you know, joe get 1000ouldn't even views online, but we are supposed to believe [laughter] votes than more barack obama. [laughter] on, nobody really believes this crap. there is something going on at the capital today. [applause] don't think they can hear you. [applause] this movement started over a

decade ago. do i have any tea party people? [applause] [indiscernible] [disorganized chanting] what yout a flavor of can see happening on c-span two if you want to follow along. katrina pearson who served as a spokesperson for the 2016 campaign for donald trump. a slate of speakers expected to go throughout the day and into the morning, donald trump expected to speak at 11:00. nelson in colorado springs on the democratic line. caller: good morning, pedro. the 140o comment that

senators, this would be a political coup in any other country. donald trump has lost the aretion, and people still trying to divide america over the same theology that he was trying to preach. he lost. , the peoplemagine you are showing that are fighting with the police. there are no black people there to fight, most of them are white. the country is still divided, pedro. i hope the senators in georgia there are preaching about how these things like socialism will happen. it won't happen. host: nelson in colorado springs. around 4:00 this morning the atlanta journal has this to add

about the state of the account there, saying about 25,000 mail-in ballots have not been counted according to data from the secretary of state's office. the numbers are estimates based on early data, and could change. the ballots are scattered around the state and most are in democratic strongholds in metro atlanta. part of the process playing out as those vote tallies and counts are taking place in those special runoff races that we have been showing you throughout the course of the morning. from arizona on the republican line, this is kevin. caller: good morning, pedro. can you hear me ok? host: yes. caller: i appreciate your show, you have been fair on each side. i do want to say, are the people aware that there are over 1000 signed affidavits under penalty of perjury admitting to watching

irregularities and outright fraud? why is the media no longer even discussing this? their name ont the line under penalty of perjury and nobody talks about it. everyone says there is no evidence. the second thing which is a minor point. we are a republic, not a democracy. i hear the word democracy over and over, and if you look it up and study what a democracy is, we are not a democracy. we are a democratic republic. there is a difference. we don't have mob rule, but that may be changing apparently. host: your state will be the first up reportedly as far as the contesting of the election results. what do you think of that? caller: i don't know. all i can say is there are a lot of things people are unaware of. of general public, because

the media slants and opinions, they no longer get news, they only give opinions. there are a lot of things hidden from the public that they will never know. i can't tell how things are done in the back room. host: kevin in arizona. when it comes to looking forward to the january 20, the planned inauguration date of president-elect joe biden, as far as who is coming and not coming, to specifics coming up. george w. bush is planning on attending the joe biden inauguration. the hail also reporting on their twitter feed that among those not attending, former president jimmy carter will not be attending. you can find more about the details and background they are on the twitter feed. new jersey, independent line. caller: good morning, pedro, and thank you for c-span. i want to make some comments. i think this is a sad day for

america. the man from arizona was correct, we are supposed to be living in a democratic republic. if this election is not overturned, that will no longer exist. the thing that is so disheartening to me, i believe there was a massive fraud. they have not been able to prove this. hopefully we will be able to see some of this today. are either disinterested, uninformed, son of them are downright stupid. this is very disheartening to me as an american citizen. is, toan say right now the 74 million people who believe in freedom and democracy , you need to grab your bibles, your flags, and your guns in that order and you know what you have to do. host: what do you mean by that? caller: i don't have to explain it. host: you made the comment. what do you mean by it?

caller: i'm going to say to you right now, the people that voted for donald trump, they know exactly what i am saying and what i mean. host: because you brought guns into the mix, what are you saying? caller: the democrats think these people are just going to walk away and blend in with what they want for our country. that is not going to happen. there are too many people left that believe in freedom and democracy. host: we will go to jason in new york on the republican line. caller: how are you doing? i want to make a statement, i am at room supporter but at the same time i am open to information if it presents the other way. the one thing i have never heard yet, the one thing i have heard, most of the time when people vote they will do party line. for president they will do party line for that president. -- with all votes

,he votes that came in supposedly fraudulent or whatever the case may be, where they just president votes on that ballot or did they vote party line and did that skew the other numbers? see numbers ofto people who voted for what party, what president? so i can make my own educated decision. if your depends on state has a secretary of state or division of elections. sometimes those entities put information from this election or previous elections online for you. have you tried that? caller: no, i did not know to do that. itt: every state does differently. some states have department of elections, some have secretaries of state. theart of that, usually, election information is put online for reference not only there but previous ones as well.

levittown you will probably try to see if you can go to the state of new york. our producer founded from the board of elections there. i don't know the address, but if you type in new york board of elections that will, and maybe you can get information from there. caller: do you know if anyone has ever brought up on any other new stations regarding all the other, i don't know how to say it, but when you bowed president and you vote the rest of the party line, if those numbers were skewed like they say the president's were skewed? host: i don't know that, that something you will have to dive through on the information presented by your individual state. we will go to carol in orange city, florida on the democrats line. caller: hello, pedro, how are you? i want to commend the gentleman from arizona who called in earlier. he is a republican and the , i do thinklady

people are uninformed. i am a democrat. i have been watching other channels, the different media channels. they do show evidence. there is loads of evidence that there was fraud, or irregularities, you can never pin down whether it was done purposely or not. i believe that people need to understand that what the senators are doing today is actually what our forefathers in the our constitution case of something like this happening. i am really surprised that there aren't more democrats stepping up and saying, there is something wrong, let's take a look at it. this is our constitution, and we don't want to walk all over it, we want to live by it. i wish more democrats would step

up and say that. host: that is carol. let's hear from don in indianapolis, indiana on the republican line. caller: how is it going? this election deal is all about the money. if you don't have the money you are not going to get the votes. if a person is trying to put $1 million in your hand from china, republicans or democrats -- when are we going to realize that the country is bought out by china, your basketball teams, your senators, your congressman, take a sick and put two politicians in it. republicans, democrat, you have two crooks. it's all as crooked. when are we going to wake up and take our country back? host: don in indiana.

he brought up the idea of money. they have on their website at the race between david perdue and jon ossoff is the most expensive senate contest ever, with candidates and outside groups spending nearly $470 million through monday. the special election featuring kelly loeffler and reverend will rafael warnock has drawn at .east $363 million both of those figures which include spending in the primary and general elections will increase when the candidates post postelection spending figures. this is dated january 4. if you go to open secrets and read that selection on january 4 could find more information when it comes to the money that was spent in the lead up to those races. daniel in tennessee, democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. i didn't really have much time to think about what i was going to say this morning, but it needs to be said, and that is

the washington journal is pretty much a national treasure. moderatorsr fellow have really save this country. you have fox news, newsmax, one brainwashing millions of americans on a daily basis and i so enjoy listening to the american people call in every morning. this is what's really happening. is no spin from these people, this is how they really for you if it was not and steve, john mcardle, and paul, and peter, and greta, bless her heart, and jesse does such an excellent job. guys then't for you

election might have went the other way. host: we don't sway the election one way or another. as far as presenting information and having guests on to talk about various issues, we strive theseesenting multi-facets of an issue. you are right in the sense that calls are the main feature of this program and i appreciate you noting the work of me and my fellow colleagues here. a try to get 60 plus calls in program every day, that gives the chance for people who are calling in to give their opinions on certain things. illinois, democrats line. caller: hi, how are you. i just want to say, i believe all this gerrymandering and redistricting of all these the states up that do what they want and as far as

-- that is what i believe and the suppression of votes is not right. i just want to get that out. thank you. doug in will hear from hanover, pennsylvania on the republican line. caller: how are you doing, pedro. years, republican for 30 but then i became educated. i followed the issues, i read online, which many republicans say "you keep reading online?" everything in history and data is online. if you want to become educated and see what is going on in america, i believe many people should take that option. another thing i would like to do is, kudos to george w. bush. he is really raising his stock. i want to give him kudos, because that's when i went to being an independent.

i could not deal with that -- in pennsylvania finishing off this hour of your call. as we told you many of times today, plenty of things to watch out for. that joint session of congress at 1:00 this afternoon where you will see senators and representatives meet together to count the electoral college votes under the offices of the vice president mike pence, not serving as a ministerial -- c-span is how you can watch that, you can watch along on c-span.org, if you want to listen you can go to c-span radio two. will give you information on the georgia senate races and how that might determine who controls the senate. if you want to watch that rally we have been showing portions of on c-span two, sponsored by

donald trump and his supporters, you can do that. the president expect to speak at that rally around 11:00 this morning. that's it for our program today. another addition of washington journal comes your way tomorrow morning. we will see you then. ♪ [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] >> you're watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. america's created by cable television companies in 1979. to you by e brought these television companies who provide c-span to viewers as a public service.