>> "washington journal" continues. host: a recent poll asked members of republican and

democratic parties what changes need to take place within the party of their choice. democrats responded the need for younger leadership and aggressive style virginia for members of the gop, a need a fresh basis with a concern and public and party to re-examine its relationship with former president trump. tell us what you need to change within the party you are in. for independents, how can the parties serve you better? republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you want to tax us your thoughts on how you would change your political party, you can do so at 202-748-8003. you can post on facebook and twitter and follow the show on instagramming. a recent cnn poll ask people about their party of choice and the question about what changes they thought it might be needed within the party.

here are some of the responses. they say their party only need minor changes or no changes at all. there is a desire for shakeup in the gop. the party needs either major changes or complete reform it. for democratic, similar need for changes or reform in their party. adults younger than 45 to see the need for those changes. among those think it needs major changes 14% saying the party needs to recruit younger candidates and do more to appeal to younger voters. another top percent say the democratic party is not aggressive enough or needs to push harder for change. nine percent say it is insufficiently progressive. a percent say it is to liberal. 7% call out -- the party out of

touch. in gop takes those musical under change, 50% thinks they should rethink its relationship with former president trump. some say has become too extreme or too far right. 6% of those republicans set the republican should compromise more. 4% want a party to take a stronger stand against democrats. 5% say more conservative positions. that is this cnn poll asking people on their thoughts on the party and what you would like to see change within the party. you can do so within this hour. give us a call on the lines. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can tell us we need to change within the demo -- the party you have. for independent, how the party

can serve you better. you can text us your thoughts at 202-748-8003. responses on facebook, steve saying, they do not need to change anything because being independent is the only way to go. benjamin sank, make it less dependent on corporations and more dependent on individuals. i would like to see mike party get the same support for rural. and, that is some of the responses off of facebook. you can post yours as well. within the party of your choice, what would you like to see change or if you see a need for change in the party.

todd in ohio on the independent line. what do you think about this idea of change in party? caller: what i believe should happen for the better interest in the common good, the democratic party, the republican party, and other parties relatively moving is for there to be an aggressive push, maybe a constitutional amendment, that we have a federally mandated curriculum on civics education. compulsory civics education, taxpayer funded starting at grade three studying government. for the greatest great relay study county. seventh grade and eighth grade with a steady state. ninth grade through 12th grade will be federal government in addition foreign government that influences our government policy. this will build a better citizen.

this will build up citizen that post longer. this will build a citizen that encourages more people to vote and most importantly, it will build a population of people that are more engaged in between votes for the common good of our country. that is the only way. that is the only way for this to happen. they should be pushing for that. host: ok. we are including independence on these calls. if you want to call and talk about the party you find yourself in as an independent or how other parties can best serve you, 202-748-8003. james in republican line. caller: i want to give a shuttle to todd. -- a shout out to todd, just now listening to what he said. it is so true. it is amazing.

as a republican, is there anything you would change about your party? caller: oh, yeah. get rid of all the haters. we got to admit. you got to admit -- host: haters within your own party? caller: yes. host: what do you mean? caller: well, i do not know i would get through. i do not have anything prepared. host: christopher in survey on the independent line. caller: i am from new york.

i would like to see more funding for independent party candidates. specifically for presidential. we do not get the funding we need. all the actual policies that the independent candidates take on are very good, but you cannot compete with the money that is getting thrown at the republican and democrats. host: as an independent do you see yourself more as a libertarian or the green party? where do you stand? caller: libertarian. little bit of both because i like the green party as well. i am half and half.

host: i get that. you are saying more funding. do you think people pay attention to the other parties other than democrats and republicans? if you think not, why and what needs to change? caller: the reason is they do not take -- pay attention to the independent party candidates. everyone is stanched in their political views, whether it is family, your mother is republican or democrat. it seems like everyone is taking on the party of their fathers or mothers or families. that is the way the country is. regardless of the actual policies. even if it does not align at times, but still they think among the same -- taking on the same political beliefs and i do

not know why. host: christopher ask it -- asking the question about your political party. what would you change about the party you align with? host: carry on the democrats line. caller: thank you for your time. i wish we could change all the parties the dark money. citizens united is terrible. that should not have been ok from the supreme court. that is ridiculous. host: do you think it has impacted your party in particular? caller: not really. more so republicans. host: what would you change about it? -- listing to your party. caller: we need to stick to the truth. people have conspiracies

theories as such. there are search engines out there. you have to google something and can find out the election was fine. host: john in ohio on the republican line. caller: good morning. i called the end. will poulter was you using to get things started? host: a cnn poll associated with the polling company. caller: i seen it. very few republicans ever go to see an end for anything. you can tell by his popularity that is down to almost nothing. host: what would you change within your party? caller: get back halfway back to trump. the way he did things was kinda meh but what he got accomplished

was great for yet -- he slowed down junk at the border. he put north korea where they wrong. he did a great thing in the middle east with the of course. that is the best thing that has happened there since carter did the thing with egypt. the republican party, the democratic party is running this thing to the grave with money, money. it is all identity politics. host: when it comes to your party you set a halfway to trump? does that mean adhere to the principles? caller: the style a little bit because he was honest. he was not a politician. he does not have the politicians

rent or tendencies. host: that is john in ohio on the republican line. you can talk about republican party if you think changes are there if you are a member of the republican party. if you are a member of democratic party you can talk about which changes is needed in the party. if you're independent, you can talk about if you belong to a third party and how the parties to serve you better. that is how we are going to go about this hour. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. if you take a look at how partisanship and those issues within party might affect the new congress coming in, another poll takes a look at that. america setting modest expectations.

saying they are less optimistic about the party features say to third of republicans and a 72% of democrats are optimistic about the future of their own party. this is after the 2020 elections. republicans saying they are pessimistic about the gop future. the highest share saying a quarter of democrats are pessimistic about their party's future. higher than both 2018 and 20 lower -- 2020 but lower than a 2016 election. factor in those thoughts of how your -- party could change. host: omar in new york on the independent line, hello. hello? one more time for omar, go ahead.

let's go to leo in massachusetts, democrats line. caller: good morning. all i have to say is, president washington warned us about parties on the way out the door. jefferson and adams immediately disobeyed him. that is where it started. host: what does that mean for the democratic party as you see it? caller: there are limits. -- they are all a mess because they want to battle each other instead of working for the country. both is bad as each other. host: why do you think it is bad? caller: because all they do is count the money for 11 months, argue, try to up one each other

and then end up with a on the bus -- omnibus. congress does not do anything. they just fight because of the parties. host: let's go to robert in virginia on the independent line. caller: good morning, c-span watchers. i would change the people reelecting to each party, democrat and republican. anybody over 65 years old or 70 years old should not be reelected and then we turn around, we put the people and their that do not want to do anything. let's put people in there that want to have some.

host: why is the agent issue? caller: you cannot get a job out there if you're 70 years old so why should we keep electing politicians that are 70 years old? it does not make any sense. they have a different frame of mind. they come from different backgrounds and educational level is different. host: as far as that desire for those who really want to be involved in politics? how do you determine that? caller: look at the guy from iowa. he is 83 years old and look at biden, i lean more to the democrat than i do the republican because all of the republicans that are in the party came from the democratic party back in the day. they are just too old to make their decisions that should be

made for the population as it is now. host: agent factor -- age is a factor for that caller. cnn poll cited high for some of the participants something they would like to see with changes in their party. there are other things you could choose as well. from of you are in washington state saying i would like to see the republicans try to change and become more open-minded on political topics. the could get a broader perspective -- we could get a broader perspective on a given topic. tony, independent saying that he is he needs to stop reelecting our candidates, they control the primaries. they should also pass higher minimum wages and improve health care instead of have helping.

they are becoming more of a corporate on the party. if you member -- may share those stop -- thoughts, you can contribute contacts at -- 202-748-8003. changes you like to see in your political party? calvin, go ahead. caller: thank you for having me on the. i would like to see more education and outreach to the common person on the grassroots level. our country as a constitutional republic, not a democracy. we need to get better messaging at creating a talent from the local level to represent the community. we are losing locality. we are not getting our best

positions to serve the communities. more education on the process to get involved in the political process as well as more messaging to everybody from democrats, independents, and everybody in this country. we are a constitutional republic , not a democracy. more education, more presence. host: democrats line, pall from the united kingdom. caller: happy new year's next few days or so. make sure -- [indiscernible]

host: we continue with the cause, 40 minutes or so. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. if you want to texas your thoughts, you can do that at 202-748-8003. some of you posting on facebook and you can post on twitter. in a recent interview with the new york times, in a podcast, former michigan republican talked about his decision to leave the republican party and declared himself a member of the libertarian party. he did that april 2020. he talked about what happened on capitol hill, leaving the house freedom caucus, and how it impacted his decisions after

that. here is part of that interview. [video clip] >> i did not resign from the freedom caucus. they did have a stern talking with me -- >> i cannot even imagine a stern talking. >> they called me in and they said you are betraying us and they compared it to a marital relationship where i should've kept my mouth shut about certain things. it was an awkward moment, i said, ok. i'm going to step away from this now. this is not the freedom caucus i started. they wanted to describe it as a marriage. we separated, we love each other. what really happened is the house freedom caucus over time forgot why it was formed. it was formed to open up the house of representatives and to push back a centralized power.

instead of her time it became a place to apply -- applaud centralized power interleaving donald trump who are concentrated power within the party and the country. >> it sounds familiar. >> they lost sight of who they were. libertarian party is not at that point. if you asked me which one i feel more comfortable, i feel more comfortable within the libertarian party because i run into libertarians who i do not have to persuade about a whole bunch of points. when i go to the convention, i feel like these are people we disagree on things, most of them disagree on strategy. it is not so much on policy. a lot of what you see is the strategy-based issue, where they

think strategically this is the way to get ahead. i disagree with them. host: if you want to see more of that interview, he did it for the new york times podcast called the argument. you can find it online at the new york time website. you can factor that into where you want to see your party go as far as changes is concerned. the lines on the screen. murray saying as an independent, i say both parties set the radical members adrift. also, the two-party system has two heads of the same monster. we need other viable parties to choose from. @cspanwj is how you reach us on twitter. george on the independent line, go ahead. caller: i am 92 years young and what i want to talk about is our

policy regarding taiwan. not too many weeks ago, nancy pelosi went to taiwan. she was followed by a senate committee that was led by a senator from massachusetts, a democrat. the one china policy is an important policy. i fear any involvement with taiwan at this time would be nothing more than a saber rattling. the one china policy has served us well over the last 25 years. host: in charlotte, north carolina on the democrats line. caller: good morning. i think we need to get rid of the lobbyists. we have too many lobbyists affecting our country and it is time for the government to shut

a lot of them down. host: why is that? caller: they got too much influence on the legislature and too much influence on our president. we got to change that. they are the biggest problem. host: elaborate on that. where have you seen as the says work lobbyists have effective policy, particularly in the democratic party? caller: they have laws where they change them and they come up there and they, you can see the influence and a lot of times it might be what they businesses want, but not the american people. host: ok. barbara from michigan, republican line. caller: i am a republican and i would like to see mitch mcconnell go bye-bye.

a lot of the senators that voted for the bill need to be put on check. i would likei would like to seee within the republican party. i think he did it for negotiation purposes. he wanted to get his vote in one way or the other kind of like to make him seem more powerful within his party. just so people back the vote, kind of like cinema but i do think she is more independent. host: let's go back to mitch mcconnell. why do you target him as need

for change within the party? caller: as far as the elections go, i do not think he supported people fairly. he could have supported people, the fellow running in arizona, and i do not like what he did in alaska. i do not think, since he holds the purse strings, i do not like that. i do not like the fact that he felt there was only two ways you could devote for the bill -- vote for the bill. i would like to see the senate republicans worked as hard as they can with the republicans in the house as well. i believe you blamed lindsey graham for it.

i kind of wish people understood whatever changes you want to make within your own party, lobbyists are not a part of a party. some of these people calling, not my right to tell, but the changes you want to make within your own party. host: ok. bob in washington state, independent line. caller: just a strange, to start with. defection of people from one party to another, in my opinion, they are not satisfied with the goals of the other party. i called to you have a soundbite from republican senator who was saying congress actually did

something and the crazy idea came to my mind that, why don't we have a congress meets one day a week for eight hours and they have to get what they want done in those eight hours? you identify as an independent, how do you think the parties could better that goes you talked about? caller: everything has gotten better -- centralized as far as parties. people were a republican or a democrat or an independent and they are not satisfied with the goals of those parties. host: how can they improve that

as far as helping individuals like yourself meet those goals and desires? caller: if i had a solution, i would be a rich man, but it is a case -- donald trump, i do not want to dump on donald trump, but he got this whole thing going. a party has his goal and if you do not believe in the goal, you should not be a member of the party. host: ok. a half hour done of your calls on what would you change about your political party. we will continue until 8:00. if you want to contribute. if you want to call in and tell us what you think on the phone lines. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000.

independents, 202-748-8002. you can text us at 202-748-8003. you may want to post on our social media sites. our facebook page open to you at facebook.com/c-span. also on artillery speed -- our twitter speed @cspanwj. saying, democratic rural areas are nonexistence, that should change. also, democratic party should oppose gerrymandering which is nothing more than nick leaving the vote camp -- count. call us and let us know. james in michigan on the democrats line, hello. caller: i would like to see give

less to the military and take better care of our elderly and disabled americans. they are in poverty wages. host: do you think your own party does not focus on that enough caller: no, i do not think they do. host: why do you think that is? caller: i do not think they are important enough to them. these people work all of their lives. they say they can live with dignity, but living in poverty is not having any dignity, at all. host: ok, james there. let's hear from bruce in alabama, republican line. caller: hello. the biggest thing that needs to change is the republican party at the top -- got to start

telling the biggest lies by the democrats do. the biggest to lies in the past election was paperwork student college loans which ended up being a lie to get them to vote. another, the republicans was going to shut our social security. that was the two biggest lies and obama and biden went over the country preaching that's everybody. host: why would you advise the republican party to lie? caller: the democrats do it. we ought do the same. host: what benefit do you think republican party would gain if they started lying as you would advocate for? caller: now we got more control. that is all the democrats care

about, having the power, and impeaching, and light, and light. host: stick with your own party. what would you see changes in your own party? in other news about a member of congress, congress jamie raskin making the announcement that he is being treated for a form of cancer. a press release from his office sank after several days of tests, i have been diagnosed with a serious incurable form of cancer. prognosis for more people in my situation is excellent after performance of treatment, expect to be able to work through this. but i been cautious to reduce unnecessary exposure. in addition to destroying cancer

cells, chemotherapy undermines the body's immune system and causes hair loss, weight gain. although i'm still holding out hope, it goes on from there. changes you need to see within the party? let's hear from south carolina on the independent line. caller: thanks for c-span. i think what i would like to see is some serious discussion on citizens united. the amount of money spent on this past election and previous elections, especially with the democrats who are hypocrites when it comes to their -- there are opposed to simpson united but in this -- citizens united but in georgia they spent three or four times as much and it

made a difference in a close election. i'm concerned about gerrymandering. illinois was obscenely gerrymandered. we do not talk when the democrats do the gerrymandering for you we did straighten it out in pennsylvania and north carolina causing republicans to lose a lot of seats. then in new york was the opposite where the republicans gained because of a fair thing was done to make fairer congressional seats. but illinois you have to look at. only three republicans were elected in their representatives. it is obscene and it should be corrected. host: have your office twitter sank, i would join the gop if they would man up for small government.

a viewer of of text, republicans need to change convenient donor money independent to get money out of politics would make all of the parties better. maybe monday is the issue you take when it comes to how the parties can change. george from tennessee the democrat line. caller: i do not know enough about of the laws of this country, like the previous caller, i do not see why the democratic party do not fight back harder. the other caller talking about the age position, the ages for different people.

my dad was 97 years old when he passed away. no dementia, no nothing, and he passed away from the coal mines but he was sharp as ever. come to joe biden, he stammers and i am sure he did have a problem with stuttering when he was younger, but that has nothing to do with -- you look at his mother, i think gees has a lot more to do with that. host: go back to the democratic party it needs to fight back harder. what do you mean by that? caller: one of the new congress, how are they going to look when they start indicting people? they refused to testify. how are they going to look?

they are not fighting back hard enough, democratic party. host: ok. george talking about the need for more fighting. and in ohio on the republican line. caller: this is for both parties and the continuity of united states of america. how about a real free press that is honest, not bias? i media that holds this administration. the journalist today day in the white house, they do not take any answers to the questions. all of those different channels. host: how does that impact the republican party? caller: honesty along the. our borders are not secure. the media does not cover it. if the country -- both parties,

saw the truth for this country, i know how they would vote. if you do not have a d or r, republicans would win over when the link in every house, senate for the next 50 years, but people blindly both because they listen to what the journalists. host: soma say the republican party has fox news to turn to or conservative media? caller: we bless our own more than anybody. we ask democrats the, that, none of them do.

republicans love to go on msnbc. the guy that married the woman on msnbc, he was never republican. the lies that the media -- fbi it was weaponize. host: mary in new york on the independent line. caller: good morning. we need integrity back in our country. people of color need to be independent. we need to hold our people accountable especially when we only care about power and money and consider candidates. we have to a seachange in this country. the courts are conspiring against the people. people need to pay attention to that. all politics is local.

powerful -- partially vote. -- powerfully vote. host: you said people of color need to move to independent party? caller: absolutely. host: why do you think that is? caller: we have been taken advantage of both ways. everyone talks about the republican party that help with emancipation of slavery and then they got everybody to vote then they abandon african-american issues. they started focusing more on business than the democrats came and said we will take all of those those and have not done right by african-americans ever since. we have got to be the independent powerboat, that is going to make these changes but until we get what we need. host: is there an independent

party that meets all of those needs? caller: the working families party in new york is doing a lot of that, but even they got hijacked. not really focus on the needs of the people like they were from the beginning. we need an independent party. there needs to be a more moved from these parties because democrats and republicans both take advantage of the minority vote. we have to be independent to get what we need in our community. host: mary giver her thoughts on changes as an independent, you can call into. one of the most famous parties which are stories of the year was kyrsten sinema, the decision of her to move from the

democratic party to become an independent in the senate. she was on cnn and talked about the decision why she did that give input about the democratic party. [video clip] >> please say the parties being dragged to the extremes, what have you seen in the democratic party that made you uncomfortable with the direction? >> generally speaking, the national parties are spending a lot of time thinking about how to get one over on the other party. how to win in the next election. how to use talking point or an issue, not to solve a problem or make a difference in people's eyes, but to win a point. that is not what i'm interested in. i think that is what most americans are not interested in either. the movement to highlight how the other party is better wrong,

both parties do this, i find that tiresome and exhausting, counterproductive. it does not help us get to the solution we subjectively need in -- desperately need in our country. host: noun independent of arizona serving in the senate. if you want to see more of that it is available online. lewis in illinois on the democrats line, what would you change about your political party? caller: i wanted to speak about the lobbying. in the 1800, sent funds to d.c. to lobby. people were making lower quality . he changed the law. another one as amazon, they change laws so they do not make

up whatever they want done. they get into the government, change the laws, get it done. look up amazon, routers and how they are invading americans privacy. host: what does it change about the democratic party? is it lobbying or the influence of lobbying? caller: they have to both get rid of it. it is ingrained. host: octavia, republican line in las vegas. caller: good morning. i would like to see the republican party to reach more to the hispanics. actually, to reach more to the grassroots, to the middle class,

especially to the hispanics and the conservatives -- i think that conservative like voice is essential to get the grassroots motivated. host: what kind of message do you think the republican party needs to deliver to these groups you talked about? caller: all they have to do is show them that that the democratic party is a danger. the middle class is having because of the far left.

the solution to that is to get the grassroots motivated and get involved and the lack of conservative voice. host: do you think they do a good job say, about election time, do you think there is more outreach during that time then the rest of the time when there is not an election pending? caller: no. needs to be done right away, not even from election. we need to get involved and start showing the people how much danger the middle class is under the democratic party. i would like to see the republican party to speak to and

get the conservative hispanics and the conservatives blacks to get involved and start because right now, the way things are going we are not going to have middle class in two years. host: ok. news regarding republicans, something you're going to see play out as the new congress is seated next year, it is about the stay of investigation towards the door santos, the new york republican representative elect. he fabricated his history saying federal and -- prosecutors are looking into him after he lied on his resume. pbs newshour confirming they're examining his finances. the district attorney office looking into his admitted fabrication. defending his representation on

fox news, pbs says the attorney office of new york is looking into his finances as you wake of his public admission to a lying raise -- about his resume. you will see that play out, particularly as the congress get seated january 3. be sure to watch c-span on that day. special programming to talk about the 118 congress you can call in and talk about the seated of the new congress. republicans will hold the majority in the house of representatives with democrats holding on for the senate. sharon in maryland, democrats line. caller: good morning. i was calling, what about the democratic party that i'm in? at the do more better and be stronger -- they have to do more

better and be stronger, come across party lines with republicans. republicans have to stop being hateful, people party, and stop this lying to the people. when i cast my vote, i cast my vote for the person who is going to do the right thing for me. i do not want nobody i cast my vote for it to be a lying person. host: since you are a member for the democratic party, what do you mean democrats need to do more to reach across the aisle for republicans? caller: i want them to work on the george floyd bill and of the john lewis bill and voting rights. get rid of the filibuster. that is what i would love to see as an african-american person. i want politicians to start thinking about family, family values and how we are raising our kids and everything.

having these guns out here and killing our kids do not make no sense at all. if we would do the right thing, our country would not be in the chaos it is an now. thank god i carry myself as cap manor with my -- in a manner with my family. my family is doing good. everybody is educated. everybody got good jobs. i do not be with people who got people, hatred thing going on with them. i do not want to be involved. i do not want politicians like that to be calling them representing me. politicians have to represent people more better stop lying and get work done. host: michelle in maine, independent line. caller: good morning. i have been a democrat since 1990, are registered in my high school government class.

i just went down yesterday here in maine to change my political affiliation to independent. it maine was interesting, i wasi cannot. i had to be unaffiliated, and i said i want to be independent. but they said i had to be either independent green party or unaffiliated. i thought that was interesting. i would unaffiliated. the last two years were enough that i cannot be a part of the democratic party. crushing the middle class. the stance on abortion was too much for me to take. i am not opposed to it but when people were saying they are proud of the abortion, i said, i have to get out of this party. that is where i am at. host: as an unaffiliated voter,

where do you turn to than as who you will support going forward? caller: i know. she told me, i cannot be a part of the primary, which i do not like that. i want to be a part of the primary process, at the same time i thought i needed to make a stand because of how i was feeling the democrats lost me as a middle-class voter behind. i'm just going to vote for the person i feel is the best candidate. i always voted across party lines. i several -- support janet yellen. i will continue to support her. as far as the national, i will not vote for joe biden. it is almost impossible to live here.

$1200 every six weeks. i cannot support that. host: is your family majority democratic members or a mix? caller: we are split. my dad is a big democrat. he is old school democratic, social justice. he marched with martin luther king jr.. he will never change. he thinks the democrats are still the old democrats. we have had some discussions. my sister is a big democrat. my mom and i are like this does not feel like the place that feels comfortable for us. i think we are on the fence. we do not have a political home to be honest. host: michelle telling her story out of maine as far as how decisions are concerned.

from virginia, republican line, we hear from jennifer. caller: from the day it is signed, give the people amnesty and then cut off for five years. let americans get back on their feet. that would be a party i could continue to vote for. i'm about to change my party. host: tell us a little bit about immigration when it comes to daca, why include these folks? caller: i work with people that have been here. why do you -- they do not have a social security number. you are older than me, what do you do? well, my mom brought me over here from jamaica or somewhere. it is time for us to let these people live.

they are paying taxes, let them live. cut it off and and everybody else has to go back to the front of the line. host: on top of that, you said make changes to the workpieces permitted into the united states? caller: we have too many people out here with the degrees that are at walmart. master's at walmart because they are saying there are so many jobs out here, but if you have student loan bills, run your credit up a try to get to the government, they tell you, you have too much debt for us to hire you. they'll be forced to higher educated people that are american citizens and the ones here. host: we will take one more call in kansas city, missouri on the

democrats line. caller: good morning. i am a proud democrat and have been since i was 18 years old. we need to unite more. the one thing -- to stop nitpicking at our leaders, learn to pick them up. democrats and republicans stand behind each other even if they have a full in front of their ticket. stop bringing a knife to a gunfight. we need to unite in the bills we have, the naacp, the court system. we need to reform the electoral college. one man is not want to vote. something is wrong with that system. be fair.

i will us -- wants us to stop being so extreme. far left versus part right. we are better as united america. we have fought the civil war. as far as immigration, we are a country of immigrants. how can we all of a sudden hate anybody of immigration status? asi want truth to still matter. and accountability. even things we all have in common, host: thank you for those of you participating. it is authors week. we spend one hour with an author with others of varying political perspectives. our next guest is craig shirley

. the author of "april 1945: the hinge of history". johnny is next on -- joining us next on washington journal.

♪ the new 118th congress convenes on tuesday. the new members are younger than average age of 47. new congress, new leaders.

watch the opening on tuesday at noon eastern. also on c-span now and online at c-span.org. >> >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. host: we are continuing our annual authors week. we are hearing from top authors

across the political spectrum. we are welcoming back craig shirley the author of the book "april 1945: the hinge of history". looking back. -- welcome back. guest: thank you. host: you talk about a meanest of times and a kindness of times. it was a blending, and ending and beginning. such was april 1940 five. can you expand on that? guest: the end of world war ii met significant changes for the united states. we were no longer an isolationist country. we were isolationist through world war i.

and through the neutrality act and troops leaving north america and trade with certain nations. in world war ii changed all that. we won the war and establish the united nations. and became a nationalist country. the dramatic changes in terms of our international relations happened as well as domestically. they worked on yielding jeeps, building planes and tanks, my two grandmothers were both rosie the riveter's. it changed dreaded -- dramatically.

so many things came about. the rockets came about because of world war ii. it changed forever. our history of the united states both domestically and overseas. host: you talk about the book and title it april 1945 but you really start and -- in january up until that time. why is important to start that? -- in january? guest: the war was still raging in january. we fight for okinawa was going on. the last island chain off of japan which douglas macarthur was going to use as a staging island for the final invasion

until the advent of a nuclear bomb. you can't judge april but it is the ultimate months. hiller commit suicide, mussolini dies. so many things happen both to mystically and overseas. -- domestically and overseas. you cannot understand in january, february and march -- so many things were going on. host: if you want to ask him questions. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002.

text us your questions or comments at (202) 748-8003. the book is "april 1945: the hinge of history". craig shirley joining us. i would ask you about those four months and fdr's influence. you write, fdr's jaunty mood and eternal optimism gave the american people hope when they needed it most while its leadership during world war ii his frequent is marginal speeches -- inspirational speeches -- question work guest: guest: i consider him one of our four greatest presidents. the criteria i would use is

dusty free or save many people? by that standard yet to include george washington, ronald reagan . abraham lincoln and franklin roosevelt. he admitted the new deal as a social experiment. but leaving the country through one were to -- world war ii. the two people responsible for leading us through war churchill and fdr. he was not only president of the united states but president of the world. the united states government was

arming and supplying and feeding not only the american fighting men but the british fighting soldier, the prussian, the australian and chinese army. we were helping the entire world. and everyone turned to fdr for his advice and assistance for he was also brilliant because he threaded himself with very good military men -- surrounded himself with good military men. douglas macarthur, and milking -- admiral king and so many others that need to be named. he surrounded himself with good military men and navy men and he let them do their job which was

winning the war. his job was to supply them with the weapons and stand back and let them. he would be involved and the decisions and consulted on decisions like d-day or the assaults on midway. otherwise he stood back and let his military men carry out the work. host: on the outside you talk about his optimism and the hope he gave to the people. what was going on privately and fdr during this time? guest: this is a man under tremendous strain. he has four sons all in the military. all in active duty.

fdr junior was a military officer, james was in the marine corps. he had to worry about that but also going into war. he was fighting a multi-front war with japan, germany, italy, romania and europe and the north atlantic. this was a tremendous strain. and polio. his health was never great. and i think he smoked four packs of day -- a day.

all of this combined, and he always said his wife was his best advisor. but she was doing things to. she really turned to the office of first lady in the modern position we know of today. before that -- eleanor roosevelt was doing a daily column, daily radio podcast, -- broadcast. in la guardia running government agencies together. she was busy. he always said she was his best advisor. so i consider her to be a wonderful woman. host: our guest has written

several books on ronald reagan. the first -- "april 1945: the hinge of history" focuses on fdr. independent line from indiana. caller: thank you. good morning. guest: good morning. caller: i want to push back of your analysis of his contribution. george marshall told -- that the administration errors and running the war cost 100,000 american lives and throughout the war six months. he may have helped liberate western europe but he abandoned eastern europe to stalin who is not better than adolf hitler's. i don't see him being a great liberator. guest: you're talking about --

that was a mistake as we all know. where to be lou the 100,000 men -- where do we lose the 100,000 men? caller: i found a quote by accident in a book on the normandy beach and it quotes, an unpublished interview with george marshall. he was a person who would know. guest: thank you. yes. i understand the quote but where were 100,000 men lost uncertainly -- unnecessarily? caller: being an old red like i know the history of the field artillery with the help of then senator truman the united states cut back on artillery

production. i september of 1944 we were actually out of artillery ammunition. guest: i would have to say you judge the result. fdr won the war as quickly as possible. he improved the development of the a-bomb. which people would say shorten the war by two or three years. it save the lives of hundreds of thousands and maybe millions. i think on the big decisions, both roosevelt and german and the field -- and truman and the field commanders got it right. truman said war help. you have human beings involved and they make mistakes. judge the results.

he did win the war. he did lose too much of eastern europe to stalin. that was a mistake. the war itself conducted by churchill and fdr was mostly a success. we won. host: let's hear from michigan, democrats line. sam, hi. guest: harry hopkins, i'm glad you asked. he was a key aide to roosevelt. through the 30's and 40's. he was plucked out.

wpa who has created bowling alleys and carry hopkins was involved in the. -- that. roosevelt took a shine to him and for a time hopkins actually lived in the white house with his daughter in the west wing. he was a trusted aide and went on important differ medic missions to europe. -- diplomatic missions to europe. he died prematurely. he was a chain smoker. he died prematurely of a heart attack which was tragic because he never had a chance to write a memoir. it has been lost to history.

we do have that insider account of the roosevelt administration. host: we have a viewer off of twitter. who asks to the slaying of this hinge help us or harm us question mark -- slaying of this hinge--sling of this hinge help us or harm us? guest: help us. definitely. we became much more sophisticated in terms of human relations. in terms of personal freedom. they can all find their seats. the space program. civil rights. women's rights, transportation, all found their seeds in world war ii.

i think we became a better nation. and by the way we are still feeling the effects today of world war ii. host: how so? guest: in terms of the economy. in terms of leisure. the growth of labor unions. the 40 hour workweek. prosperity, social security, all of those came out of the new deal or world war ii. he was a the manager -- management of social security, but that fact is that it has helped many senior citizens. host: you talked about the cost of were measured in death and destruction and a pillaging of libraries but also in march i did alone across the board was 8 billion so tax revenue brought

only 6 billion. the national debt grew to 23 5 billion, paint that into perspective. guest: the debts we made up by the administration but also by the sales u.s. bonds where patriotic americans bought barnes by --bonds by the millions. i member my grandma, going to the bank and cutting out very bonds which were just little postage stamps and cashing them in. they but u.s. savings bonds and

more bonds. that's interesting too. people talk about the united states and how united we are as a country. the fact of the matter is we have always been divided. maybe 30% of the people were against george washington and the american revolution. in the conclusion of the war something like 100,000 americans left the united states because they did not want to live under the articles of confederation. they wanted to live under british rule so they left and went back to europe or england. they went to jamaica and other countries. then the war of 1812 was also a

division between americans. the civil war was about a division. half the country supported slavery and half of it was against it. in world war i something like three dozen members of congress voted against our entry into world war i. we have been divided since the vietnam war, a race poverty. the only two times where we were truly united as a country was in the aftermath of december 7, 1941. he stayed pretty much united for the form -- four years of the war. and september 11. it only lasted several months.

i think we get our strengths from our division because out of that we get compromise. and that has been the genius of america is to compromise on various issues. don't let anybody tell you we have always been united. that is not true. host: from georgia, democrats line. mr. jenkins. caller: thank you for taking my call. my grandpa fought, and my dad fought in world war ii. when he returned to mississippi. what was the issue of the service of the blackman who returned home and did not receive civil rights? guest: it was the beginning. i am not an expert. it was the beginning of the

recognition of african-americans to america as a country. there were many citations and awards. the red tails, the tuskegee airmen. there were many positive developments that came out of world war ii and i think it started getting people thinking about how to make this a better country. let's make african-americans truly equal in the eyes of the law. nothing is perfect. human beings are not perfect. it was a long arduous process. i think the real beginning since the emancipation proclamation was the stirrings of more rights for all americans. not only african-americans but

women, and other minorities as well. host: our guest for these our -- this hour. craig shirley the author of "april 1945: the hinge of history". another caller. caller: diddy up the tariff? did he up the tariff? in other words, the port got us out of the depression. but didn't roosevelt had to burn a road going to china. did we supply the army with the flying tigers fighting the japanese prior to pearl harbor. he get us into the war? guest: i don't know where to

start. roosevelt inherited the great depression. it started under herbert hoover. that's the first issue. it is true he did not get us out of the great depression. to grow in economics it is not

about production it is about consumption. the british were actually consuming american products and that is what really got us out of the great depression. world war ii did not get us out. we were already out of it. long before the war started. the key to economic growth is consumption. you can make 100,000 ford automobiles but if nobody buys them what good are they? that really stimulated our growth. as far as roosevelt and road, i don't know how to answer that. the road was used to supply australians and others fighting in asia, the germans and japanese. most of the japanese.

used to supply our troops, british ships, and australian troops. and i'm trying to number what else the gentleman said. host: january 25 the battle of the bulge and february 4 211 it is the yalta conference. with this in the perspective, how does that influence april 1945? guest: stalin insisted the meeting between the big three, stalin, churchill, and was about that it be held in russia because he was terrified of being assassinated. he wanted on area where he could control it. there's no diaries or books like that about the reluctance. they did go.

and stalin harangued and control the meetings. i went this territory and i want this. the russians and defeated the nazis and on and on and on and he finally got what he wanted which was control of eastern europe, hungary, czechoslovakia and other countries. that was churchill's first big mistake. allowing those countries to become enslaved by the soviet union. and joseph stalin. that was one big mistake. it was also an arduous trip for roosevelt. he was already a frail man. he was only in his 50's. the stress and strain of war and

excessive smoking. he did not drink excessively. he had an old-fashioned or a manhattan drink after 5:00. i member one bio i read is to favor people were his two favorite cousins. he liked to gossip with them. you at all of these things up plus 11,000 arduous miles. by plane, boat and car.

back then is much more difficult. it was difficult for them. out of that conference came to soviet hegemony and takeover of eastern europe. host: when you talk about the big three they are always painted together but what was the level between fdr and stalin? guest: churchill and roosevelt trusted each other implicitly. they were both suspicious of stalin. the russian army did do a magnificent job and fighting the nazis from the east and they lost millions of men as a result.

nonetheless and we supply them of course. with airplanes and things like that. we supplied the russian army but there was ever -- never a level of acceptable trust between stalin and roosevelt. host: from a joanne in massachusetts. dependent line. caller: i would like to say you mentioned the word nuclear in regards to pans bombing and i think the press and maybe yourself, you said very loosely. it was not a nuclear bomb. nuclear bombs were not used in world war ii. guest: of course not. caller: ok, atomic bombs were used. i think the terms being used, it

is scary enough being used today. a lot of newspeople use the word nuclear. i just wanted to clarify that with you. guest: i'm not a scientist. i was not an oak ridge or new mexico but the common usage is that these bombs were dropped onto japanese cities and hope of ending the war and it did end the war. host: the battle of he would you , the bombing of tokyo, the battle of okinawa be ends, talk about the japanese portion of these months. guest: they were throwing everything they could into the war.

they would come in once we got control, cvs would come in. they were mostly made up older men, experts in carpentry of -- or some other work. they served obviously but were too old for contact. they allowed us to bring in planes especially the bombers. we could use b-17's and be 20 force in europe --and b-24s in europe so we had to develop a

super fortress. to bump some of the islands in japan and around japan. japan was throwing everything into the war. at the beginning of the war they had 16 aircraft carriers and many battleships and we reduced that to a fraction through the various battles midway and other battles. throughout the war. they were really hanging on by a thread. so the last months of the war. they were running out of supplies. the asian peninsula was being cut off by the allies.

they were trained and working with their civilian population. they had children with bamboo sticks doing whatever they could even though we had thoroughly bombed dozens of japanese cities and laid waste to dozens of japanese cities there was still a significant population of civilians to fight off the invasion. it was not until the dropping of the atomic bombs the war might go on another two or three years because the population would never surrender or give up to the allies.

host: let's hear from bernie in florida. democrats line. caller: roosevelt. we wrote these books and try to -- you try to exclude what he really was. he was a segregationist. he did not want lacks in the service. if it wasn't for his wife the blacks would not have been in world war ii. what he think of that? caller: guest: i think you are partially right, yes. he was on the board of directors of harvard university and they had racial quarters at harvard university when he was there. they certainly had racial quotas and segregation in the u.s. army all during world war ii. i resent imposing the morality of 2020 to --2022 on 241.

people understood differently and behaved differently. it was wrong. it was horribly wrong. there were positive things that came out of the war because of the breakdown of the walls of segregation. fdr was no real regressive on civil rights. -- progressive on civil rights. he made halfhearted attempts. there was the great depression and then the war started.

but i think he was a product of his era and his time. in many ways i think he grew out of it. some of his speeches toward the end indicated this. and of course eleanor roosevelt was probably far more progressive on the racial issues than her husband franklin was. i still contend that because of war we had a terrible toll. some estimates as high as 80 million who died worldwide as a result of hitler's and miscellany -- mussolini. for the living things began to get better. host: from new jersey,

republican line. pat. caller: my question is about harry truman. given fdr got his help how much was truman kept in the loop? we know he did not know about the atomic bomb. did he know about the war efforts? how much did fdr's sudden death impact his early days in the conference? guest: thank you. i am -- i can answer this best i can. fdr treated truman pretty much like any other president treated a vice president. i member reading once wilson's vice president waited a year and a half for a meeting with wilson. and another one to johnson after

-- actually went home because he had nothing to do as vice president. there was an ongoing joke at the time before teddy roosevelt became vice president. the modern presidency probably has to be best credited to quarter -- carter. he was given serious responsibilities. roosevelt treated truman pretty much like the previous presidents. truman was in an apartment on wisconsin avenue living with his wife and daughter.

he had a senate office and would go preside in the senate when he would need to. he didn't really have any responsibilities and he found out the way everyone else photo over the radio -- found out, over the radio. that roosevelt had passed away. nt rush right over to the white house and had a meeting and famously said, what can i do for you misses roosevelt? and she said no harry, it is what we can do for you for you are the one in trouble now. he was thrown into the lion's den without any real experience. he was a senator before then. working on commissions were agencies like that under roosevelt.

editorials were pretty tough on him in the first years after he became president. he grew into the job very quickly as most of them do. host: i want to play you a little bit of what fdr said to congress shortly after the yalta conference and what he was telling congress and the world at that time. particularly the united states after the war. here's a portion from march of 1945. >> i come from a crimea conference. with a firm belief that we have made a good start on the road to the world of peace. major allies have been more -- never before have allies been more closely related not only in war aims but also in peace aims. and we are continuing to be united. with each other and peaceloving

nations. so those ideals will become a reality. peace will belong only ask humanity insist on it and continues to work for and sacrifice for. 25 years ago they like to be switched late fought and suffered for. we failed them then and we cannot feel them again. and expect the world to survive again. the congress of the american people will accept the results as the beginning of the structure of peace. from which we can begin to build under god that better world to

give to our grandchildren and children. yours and mine. children and gradual and gradual of the whole world must live and can live. host: what is the impact of that speech not only to congress but to the americans listening? guest: roosevelt was a magnificent speech giver. i have another quote from a speech he gave to a group of democrats. it was about peace in the future. his speech, we have a war written president who is determined to keep the peace. we were ready for peace.

after world war ii and we had lost hundreds of thousands of men in uniform including something like 250,000 lost at sea. never had a barrel -- burial ceremony or a grave or anything like that. it was a good speech and what the american people wanted to hear. it is what the congress wanted to hear. they wanted to believe we could move ahead with great britain and with the soviet union, arms locked in peace. unfortunately that was not the case. we had the cold war. it was still a noble goal and what i consider to be a terrific speech. host: from gary in connecticut. independent line. caller: i am a retired professor of history.

i want to take this time to disagree with you very strongly on one point. there were a number of things you have said. you said the atomic bomb ended the war with japan. this is really provably not true. if you look into the first bomb was dropped august 6 and the second on the ninth. on the ninth of august the soviet union declared war on japan. that was agreed to three months or four months earlier that they would declare war 90 days after the surrender of japan. they did right on time. it was not an opportunistic move. the bulk of the japanese army was in china which was now pinned down by the soviet army. that is point number one.

number two if you go to the ward council and read the minutes from the meeting, they do not discuss the bombs. they discuss the soviet entry into the war as being the key factor. three, it was not a conditional surrender. it became known in that -- guest: i did not say it was unconditional surrender. caller: i know but i am saying that. host: let him finish and then we will get your answer. caller: i am just saying it was probably believed that was the case. number four, there were arguments and by the way i can refer you to books and a number of anthologies giving both sides of the argument. it becomes clear once you really

study the most recent data on this. that you are operating from a different reasoning. host: we will stop there. guest: i don't know where to start because there are so many fallacies. i never said it was conditional or unconditional. the bombs were dropped and within a few weeks the uss missouri was in tokyo bay and the peace was signed by diplomats. obviously everybody agrees including the japanese that dropping the bombs ended the war. i don't understand his point really to be honest. host: from tuckerton new jersey.

rick, mcgrath line -- democrats line. caller: good morning you did a wonderful job setting the table for the united states future. i think we have to give some credit to following presidency. i am 68 but as a teenager i read a book by harry truman. we had some fantastic presidents after roosevelt. you look at truman and eisenhower and the standings that keep rising. kennedy of course, he certainly

proved his mettle in the bay of pigs. and johnson was going to be a president until -- and then it went downhill. but the presidents that followed him really followed him. thank you. guest: thank you. every 20 or so years we go through the peak of the george washington and then downwards. still great presidents like adam and jefferson but they are not george washington. and then to the bottom and then we go back up to abraham lincoln and then to johnson and others and then back up to teddy roosevelt. and then down again through hoover and others. and then back up to harding and

then to frank lynn roosevelt. and then down again, yes truman and eisenhower were good presidents but they were not franklin roosevelt and i would disagree about lyndon johnson bear do you added dixon, ford, carter and then you go back up again to reagan. it is not perfect. it is not a scientific equation but it is a rough outline of history. how we go in this country from very good presidents to mediocre presidents. host: you also mentioned what occurred in oshawa it's --au schwitz. put that in perspective please. guest: i did not realize how

many death camps they had. i know 30 or 40 all throughout western europe and eastern europe. poland, hungary, germany those places. there was unspeakable, horrible murders of not only 6 million jews but another four or 5 million homosexuals or local opponents -- political opponents, anyone seen as not part of the master race was exterminated. these were discovered and there are many accounts of them and

tragic maladies and problems that were discovered in these death camps. it was just one more thing about we discovered how monstrous the nazis were really were. host: they were forcing the local population to tour the camps and witness the carnage, the germans all denied any knowledge. the local marriott -- mayor committed suicide after being forced to witness one day. guest: yes. they forced the local german population to tour the camps. they would say they did not know anything about it but it was impossible to not know anything. we actually know about it as

early about 9041 --1941. and published a white paper on members of the jewish race. people were disappearing. back in 1941 we knew about it but nobody paid attention except for time magazine wrote one article about it with a meanly titled a wandering jew. but we did not know the extent of it until 1944 and 1945. host: from dennis in texas. republican line. caller: good morning. i would say i agree with you overall.

guest: thank you. caller: that america has generally been divided. a couple things i would like to point out. when he talked about fdr and the new deal. generally consider the rockstar of economics until the carter and lucian ayres proved him wrong -- inflation years proved him wrong. my point is that in 1939 in a meeting they said we spent all of this money and it did not do any good except to get us into

debt. average unemployment was 14%. they had a recess in the middle of it get rid of some of the employment programs and it spiked to 22%. i recently finished reading a book by my favorite economist. he gave a good expiration as to -- he makes the point that war can get you out of recession. you destroy all of the things you are making. you do not create any wealth. his point was ultimately roosevelt as he transitioned and he mentioned -- he did start transitioning the economy to do manufacturing of war stuff even

before we got into the war. but he started to transition out. this was the big point. he started to tradition out the people in his demonstration that were -- administration that were leaning. they were being replaced by businesspeople. host: we will leave it there. thanks. if you wanted to take any of that. guest: i enjoyed listening to the gentleman. i right after the war and that did not happen. the congress cut taxes and stimulated the economy. it was tremendous economic

growth in the late 40's. we never went back into a recession or depression. everybody was involved in the war. i mean everybody. everybody was involved in some aspect. there was a lot of positive economic activity that really did not subside after world war i. the roosevelt administration told detroit, for the duration of the war you will not take any new parts. you will make tanks and things like that. it was after the war where they started producing new cars again. there were bought and were

consumed. the economy really did well during the war and better after the war. host: carol in missouri. democrats line. caller: i was six years old when i seen 41. i remember the day pearl harbor was bombed. i went to a country school. everything we did had to do with the war. i know we each had a plane on

the map of the united states. every time we bought bombs, we moved our plane so far on that map. everybody sang the service sounds and all of that. we were so unified. my dad was a farmer. we only have so much gas. we had meatless tuesdays.

i do not understand why we can't be that unified again. host: that is carol giving her snapshot of what was going on at the time. guest: it was wonderful hearing your stories. i hope everybody remembers world war ii. please write down or record your recollections. there are plenty of websites, the world war ii museum in new orleans and others will accept your recordings and memories and thoughts. i remember my mother -- is 89. she is in great shape.

i did a little research. it turned out, everyone had victory gardens. backyards, fields. in 1944, 1 fourth of vegetables in america were grown in victory crops. the big farms were sending and vegetables overseas russians, australians or chinese. we were sending so much of our fruits and vegetables overseas. we needed the victory gardens to help feed ourselves. it is funny you mentioned about the sacrifice and what you did during the war.

really my two world were books, every sunday after church, my grandmother would have us all for dinner. we were around the table with aunts and uncles. the conversation always turned to the war. they would talk about -- my father was a boy scout at the time and many other promotional

posters. you have three dependents, we are not that desperate. he was turned down. everybody in our family, we were not unique, every family did this. host: in connecticut. independent live. hello, mary lou. let's go to bill. republican. caller: mr. shirley, a few

colors back there was a gentleman calling in regarding fdr saying that he was a segregationist. i was reading about the check in -- jackie robinson's brother who ran in the 1936 olympics, i think it was mark robinson, he came in second to jesse owens. with you being a historian, i would like to know if this is true. supposedly, after they defeated hitler's in the olympics, let's just say it that way. when they came back home, franklin delano roosevelt did not invite the black athletes to the white house. is that correct? guest: i do know that jesse owens came back from winning

more gold medals in berlin. he once said that hitler's shake his hand but fdr shook his hand. he was upset for obvious reasons. i do not know -- but i do know jesse owens was heartbroken and better that franklin roosevelt acknowledges victory in berlin. host: mr. shirley, thanks for your time. happy new year to you. caller: thank you. happy new year. host: we will turn the question to when it comes to your political party, what would you change within that political

party? republicans, (202) 748-8001. the democrats, (202) 748-8000. if you are a independent, (202) 748-8002. we will take those calls when we return. ♪ >> this holiday week explore the people and events that tell the american story everyday on american history tv. here the 1988 new year's messages about the nature between the soviet union and a possibility of another meeting during the two countries.

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nonprofit operations at c-span shop.org. "washington journal" continues. host: how would you change the political party you belong to. we would like to get your thoughts on this for the remainder of the day. if you are a republican, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independent, (202) 748-8002. if you wish to text as, you can do that at, (202) 748-8003. a recent poll done by cnn talking about people about their parties in the changes they see necessary. the poll says with the democratic parties, accredited online adults younger than 45

are likelier than those 45 and older to fill the need for those changes. among those who aligned the democratic party needs changes. 14% think the party needs to recruit younger candidates or do something to fuel the young voters. at 12% think the democratic party is not aggressive enough. 9% say it is not progressive. looking at the republicans polls also asked those within the party what they thought, saying 15% should rethink their relationship it has with former president trump. 7%, to extreme. 8% says the party needs to find new faces. 6%, the gop should compromise more.

cnn is where you want to read that. republicans, (202) 748-8001. it democrats, (202) 748-8000. independent, (202) 748-8002. caller: good morning, c-span. i do not like the democratic party after i saw the treatment of other progressives and bernie sanders. it would be nice for the republican party to kind of -- of people that are racist and not trying to move from their views. it would be nice if they were the ones who are fiscal

conservatives. it would be nice if the democrats would be more progressive and more for labor movements. a more for the working class and the middle class. be more progressive so we can move this country in the direction where equality and a people's income, wages, things like that were just better so that we can get the economy where it needs to be and gets americans back to where it needs to be. i really wish we can get to a point where america can come together and unify. as a african-american, i am just done with those bits of racism. more importantly, none without corporation control this entire country. host: you talked about the treatment of bernie sanders as a

point of contention for you. it you mean by that? caller: the way the dnc did a bunch of dirt while he was running against hillary clinton in the primaries. i remember he did a rally in new york and there was no coverage of it. there was like thousands of people there. because of young people being on social media, we can see live what is going on in our phones. there was a complete media blackout. i believe we are being divided purposely so corporations can continue to control this country , economy, wage cap. host: thanks for the call. republican line asking about how you can change your political party. go ahead. caller: i am mostly republican. i have kind of flirted with

independent because of different things with the republican party. i am informed some percent -- progressive ideas in the round of being a republican, i think it has to be fiscally responsible. one thing i think is a problem with both parties, their lack of knowledge to basic economics and fiscal responsibility. the second bush, you know he spoke on compassionate conservatives. with that, even if you look at the immigration crisis, we need more people over here working. those people who are coming over here willing to work and some of

the things with the progress of the democratic party, their heart is in the right place, they want to help everyone and give everyone everything. as my grandma and father in law, they came from small humble beginnings with nothing. they said if we do not work, we do not eat. to some degree, everybody has to have a fire in their belly to get out of bed and do something. when icl of this mental health. if people do not have a purpose, if you can lay around and watch netflix, what is your purpose. the purpose is, i want to feed my family. if you do not have to, you are not going to do it. i would like to see both parties change, so they are looking at things in a balanced way where they are not looking at being

compassionate, but the fiscal response abilities of the realities. host: ok. we will hear from linda. democrats line. caller: i am a lifelong democrat, even though way back when in 1972i was very disillusioned by my party in the governor nixon election. my problem with the democratic party now, basically what you were reading before, i do not believe they are aggressive enough against the republicans. it seems to me the republicans say and do whatever they want with no repercussions. i think we need to vocalize about this. i think we really need to drum it into people's heads exactly

what that party is composed of. i do believe it is a party of liars. other people are people of self interest, that is all they care about. they do not care about the american people. i do think democrats historically have. i think they continue to do that. i think they continue the need of the american people. host: democrats line. you may recall the work of thomas frank wrote a book. it populism, he has a recent piece taking a look at the democratic party. he was saying in the new york times, the 19th of this month saying the democratic changes

were going to gild future majority by implication that nothing missionary or transformative was a part of the. democratic constituent groups seem that they can easily satisfy with no rhetoric. majorities desperately want liberal measures like universal health care and economic clarity . these things are obvious when it is viewed from a certain distance. again, that is author thomas frank. we are asking you about how would you change your political party. you can post on facebook, twitter, sent as a text at, (202) 748-8003. in missouri, independent line. george. caller: i was a democrat for a

long time. these democrats and republicans go in the house and argue with each other and curse each other out. walked out the capital and she said, using the same to republican and democrats hand and hand holding the cards off to each other. she says, they want their constituents. the only time republicans or democrats either constituents, every six years when they vote. after that they never see each other.

there were there for their selves, money, that is all it is. they are going to wind up like russia, north korea, china, somewhere like that. it is ridiculous. i am 75 years old. it used to be the world's leading country. it is getting bad. host: republican line. go ahead. caller: i think the republican party is doing what it should do. it is recruiting conservatives, black, minority candidates. it is an assumption that we are a party of racism. if that were true, how did jack james get elected. there are several others.

if this were true, and we were a party of racism, would these true americans, would they represent their party? if you listen to him talk, articulate, smart. i think what we are doing -- i was on the line because i got caught up. thankfully i got in. host: thanks for calling in. would you think about this george sancho story -- what do you think about this george sancho story? caller: i am sure you can find it throughout the system.

i do not know how he can attend continue. he is a embarrassment. host: david in new york. republican line appeared columbia, south carolina. democrats line. caller: i am a longtime democratic voter for a number of years now. what i would like for my party to continue to do is stand up for integrity for the january 6 committee is doing and pull -- hold our economies for holding up. it we cannot have elected leaders leading without integrity.

how can you legislate and devote of the issues for the people called integrity -- without integrity. it is impossible. we do need to consider our working class, our economy. so people can provide for their families. they need to continue with that. our health care system, need to focus on that. i do think we are in the right direction. they come together and devote and legislate and work together for the people who voted him in office. thank you. [indiscernible speaking] joy in fort lauderdale, florida. caller: thank you for taking my call.

i wish i was as articulate as the last color. i want to comment about linda. i wish i could have said what she said. i took some notes. someone quote about --. i was a democrat for a long time. i changed my affiliation so my phone would stop drinking because i am on a fixed income. what i would like to see the democratic change is to get back for standing up for moral justice, social justice. top down moralism, that is just a messaging problem. social justice is what democratic party stands for and integrity like your last c

aller said. they idea -- the idea of someone bussing migrants. host: i'm going to stop you there. pick the best line that represents you. if you called in the last 30 days, if you can hold off in doing so today. i would suggest that both parties promote term limits, get in work towards your goal, no more career politicians. phone calls go unanswered and orders aren't placed.

i also want the libertarian party watching local and state governments. let's hear from mike in louisiana. republican line. caller: good morning. i got to know quite a few politicians in the area. some of the key players in the republican hierarchy. i think at the grassroots level, we need to put better people in place, people who are more representative of the country as a whole. in my case, i got interested in the politics of it because of

some changes in various providences in our area. and the lack of legitimate time limits by the government. the republican party put the wrong people forward. they do not move aggressively to endorse people who are looking for true good government. i think their fiscal policies are good overall up and down the line. they need to move more towards the middle and show compassion to all people. that is my comment. host: that is mike in louisiana calling on the republican line. it was senator josh hawley who wre a piece in the washington

post. he writes this, we can start by stopping the bleeding, no more talk of grand bargains turbocharging immigrations making us more dependent on foreign adversaries. all of that should be clear enough. it is time for proactive policymaking, no other nation got strong by pursuing staff other people make. taking the shackles off u.s. energy producers, that means new antitrust laws and restoring competition to the marketplace. there is more on the op-ed from josh hawley. it was published on november 18 of this year. how would you change your political party.

we have given you lines to call. pick the one that represents you. matt from dallas, texas. democrats line. hello. caller: good morning. i like this question because there are two things that comes to mind. house leadership. i was one of those democrats for a wild who i respected nancy pelosi, but i was glad to see her finally step down and i understand because she wants to be with her husband. you have new leaders coming in. i think that is one change. senator schumer consider stepping down and letting new democrats take over. the other thing that i consider, we need to reach out to rural voters. republicans who control redistricting the state has made it very clear, they want to

slice and dice all of the emerging suburban and urban counties where we control. the only way you combat that is reaching out to rural voters. one of the reasons, beto o'rourke got so close to ted cruz is because he reached out to world voters about world broadband, health care, i think some of those issues still remain. we as a party, specifically in texas, we need to go out and talk to world voters. host: ok. matt in texas giving us a call. michael. michael in new york. independent line. caller: thank you very much. good morning to all. i would like to see as an independent, i would like to see more viable third parties be able to participate.

what we need is election reform towards ranked choice voting, open primaries, proportional representation through fair districting. that is what i would like to see in the future. this two-party system is too close to. it should be more open. host: you talked about the forward party. what do they establish? caller: the election reforms, open primaries and fair districting. along with that, they are starting to build a party as a

grassroots bottom up as opposed to from top down. going forward, they would be endorsing people from different parties. host: michael in new york. we have done plenty of segments on this program taking a look at third parties and others. if you're interested in viewing those, go to our website at c-span.org. there is a search engine for our video library if you are interested in hearing some of the segments we have done during the year. you can go to our website. republican line, west virginia, this is james, hello.

caller: hello. let me get you off of speaker. why are we having to hire lawyers to get compensated for something? why do we have to hire lawyers? no compensation in sight. host: from bowie, maryland. democrats line. caller: how are you doing today? great job. i am calling in reference to on what this country is built on. it is built on in god we trust. every person who calls never talks about the whole point of the united states.

they lived by one nation under god. host: since you called as far as the democratic party, what needs to change, do you think? caller: focus on good and bad. you cannot have a third party out here. people talking about third parties. caller: [inaudible] you know, for the first time we

have a new attorney general a new secretary of state. a new governor. you have a great day. host: that is ted in arizona. we have 20 odd minutes to have you talk about us on how you can change your political party. it is, (202) 748-8001 republicans. (202) 748-8000, democrats. (202) 748-8002, independents. we will hear it next up from mike. caller: thank you for taking my call. in my opinion we should defund political parties and ban and prohibit them. no matter how good intentions their representative is, when

they find their way to washington, they end up not representing their constituents. i think there is a need to do this. that is to change campaign-finance. when you make a campaign donation, it is for a single donation for a single campaign. any money not spent during the campaign and goes to pay down the national debt. that will deplete parties that are representing themselves and not representing the people. host: mike in florida. this is glenn testing us saying the democratic party -- texting us that a democratic party should have a age limit of 70. dorothy in florida says both parties should be open primarys. it at least that is the way it was when i lived there.

many and most educators are on a professional salary has to spend our money on the classroom. please help by paying a fair wage. this will help with the teacher shortage. steve from twitte saying i would pass the torch to the next generation of leaders. from john in illinois, democrats line. one thing i would change is cost efficiency. caller: teachers need to get

paid more, especially when it comes to health care. our politicians with health care. it than you. [indiscernible speaking] host: tim on the republican line. caller: greed, money, power. we need to get rid of it. they are not helping us. host: you are saying that exist in the republican party as you see it russian mark other ?

other sources have reported this. anyone flying into china, the new policy comes amid a surge in covid cases as a new concerning variant could emerge. we will have reporting on that and other stories. let's hear from st. petersburg, florida. independent line. good morning. caller: thanks for what you are doing. the duopoly that we have represented by the democratics and republicans have run their course. we need a new party. we all know what our country is thinking. we are suffering from both democratic and republicans. the patriotic duty is the coalition in the middle and take the country forward.

no need to reach across the aisle because we are standing in it. how could we spend all of the money when more than china and russia and we are the only ones that do not have micro sonic missiles? it is a shame what is happening. we the voters have to take back. we need the leaders to come together and formed a new party to take the country forward. host: dave on the independent line. there was a story shortly after kyrsten sinema announced she will go to independent. he was asked a similar question. he was paraphrasing he will remain in the democratic party. let's hear from robin in jacksonville, alabama. democrats line. caller: thank you.

i think obama, --. host: are you a democrat? caller: no. host: i'm going to stop you right there. anthony in texas. democrats line. caller: democracy, i think it just runs around in both parties. the democrats on one hand, they are election deniers. republicans, they thrive off the deficit.

hypocrisies come on sides need to just stand for something -- hypocrisy, both sides need to stand for something. host: you gave an example of supporting the wrong person. what do you mean by that? caller: i do not understand. host: you said you have to support -- the democratic party has to stop supporting certain people. correct me if i'm wrong. caller: this past election, there were a lot of elections in myers that were running for office. even in the democratic party. because they were like pulling money into certain states to try to get election deniers to run for office. they thought that they were more easily to be defeated. host: yeah. caller: both parties need to

stand up, whether it is going against the party. if it is wrong, it is just wrong. they just need to take a stand and just take a stand. host: anthony in texas calling in. the detroit free press reporting the prime mover in a violent domestic terrorist was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for plotting to kidnap governor gretchen during the heat of the pandemic. 82 35 month or 19 years nash 230 five months or 19 years. cnn highlighting the fact that the january 6 committee is withdrawing its subpoena to former president donald

trump. the select committee can no longer pursue specific information covered by the subpoena. that was the chairman of the committee, who wrote a letter to trump's attorney last wednesday. i notify you he is no longer obligated to comply or produce records in response to said subpoena. political reporting the fact that, the abiding white house launching its major broad site in response to and coming likely to spearhead republicans. oversight demands by congressional republicans will have to be started over. white house special counsel since the biden administration had no immediate plans to respond to the request.

those records were obtained exclusively by political. o. more of that if you want to read it in politico. or a femur minutes left on the topic on how you would change your party -- a few more minutes left on the topic on how you would change your party. caller: i think with james madison, it is literally impossible not to have faction in society with freedom of expression. similar to the man who was talking about gerrymandering in texas in the democratic party reaching out to rural voters. i think that there's a breach in

the social fabric of society in part by misinformation but also can recredit elitism -- democratic elitism. progressive hike yields are popular amongst the american people in our just about messaging. progressivism is more popular in nature. it is about explaining it in a way that is successful and not nash. i think if you can find it what to do that, which the democratic party failed, you can build a broad coalition that -- a huge -- of the electors would be unstoppable. host: richard in arizona. independence line. you are on. caller: hello there.

my thought process, i will keep it simple. remember the old toy the kids have, the top that you had on the floor and the colors went all the way to the top. i can argue both sides on a lot of issues. host: what number one change would you like to see? caller: more critical thinking by everybody. host: richard in arizona. chip in colorado, the democratic party needs to focus on getting our tax rates back to where they were when america was great and strong from 1940 21980. the tax rate on the super wealthy were doubled and tripled. that made america a great country. this is wendi from new jersey saying, as a lifelong republican i would like the party to take

on more moderate thinking. the party could attract those in the middle. democrats line. south carolina. good morning, your next. caller: i would like to say for the democratic party, i would like them to stop taking a knife to a gunfight. we must be as vicious as the republicans have been in the last two years. thank you. host: what do you mean by that? caller: the republicans fight everything that the democrats do. we must stop trying to get along with them because they will never try to work with the democrats to accomplish anything. host: ok. jesse in new mexico. republican line. i am sorry i pushed the wrong button. jesse in new mexico. caller: good morning.

thank you so much. i just wanted to talk a quick second about why i am a republican. i changed because now my stay is entirely blue and we have a close primaries. i wanted to be able to vote in the primaries that were actually happening this year. i was able to vote in the republican primaries. that is why i am a republican. i am a republican, i am also republican pro-life completely. i have a history teacher also. i really think that both parties should be forced to nominate a woman for president. we never had a woman president. i do think it will be a symbolic change for our students and kids

to see in america. i do not think -- i do not think just by having women is great for women. it is about making these parties change. host: what woman would you nominate for the republican party nomination? caller: i like blackburn from tennessee. amy klobuchar is outstanding for the democrats. i think we needed. it appeared we have to force these people to change -- parties to change. host: jesse is in albuquerque, new mexico. calling on a republican line. good morning. caller: i would like to give a shout out to jesse for picking a party. i think that is a part of the problem with people being independent. they cannot vote in the

primaries. can you hear me? host: if i had one thing for the democratic party, with that other lady, not taking a knife to a gunfight. to reach out to the rural people or the truckers, we used to have a station radio station called air america. you know, i guess it was not profitable. if we can get a voice out on air radio or something that they listen to, that is where you can have your talking heads and perhaps get out of the dark money out of politics. host: it is a nuanced question. you do not have to answer it. why do you think air america did not work from the progressive views that they offered on air ?

caller: i do not think we have enough backing. propaganda works. what i have noticed with republicans, it is the loudest voice -- it works. we need to counter it that way. maybe they will be a part of a 50 state strategy. host: humble curfew, new mexico. -- albuquerque, new mexico. independent line. caller: i am a volunteer. i want the parties to promote volunteerism. can you hear me? i am a member of a rotary club. i have been a member of reliance club. many of your people who listen to the show might not be aware of those organizations. we are all volunteers, none of us gets paid. we are not political.

what we do, we get together and raise money and do good deeds in our community. in fact, as a weeklong celebration in september, it is called celebrate community week, september 11 through 17th, there is a resolution at the house -- was introduced in september. we are trying to get all americans to work together. i think that is the answer to our country. volunteered to help people in our community by working together. we are working with the american legion, the veteran of fallen wars. those that matter your political party, this is working together to help people. volunteer. none of us are paid. host: we got your point. let's hear from another independent line caller. greg in florida. hello. caller: i think what we really

need to do is to rewrite the constitution. we are living in the 21st country and distill motoring on the mindset of the 18th century. host: what do you mean by that? caller: the constitution was written in 1787, with all of the policies, a mindset of the 18th century. we are living in the 21st century. for example, what is the qualification for being president -- qualifications for being president? you could not even get a job anywhere without more qualifications than the age. we are talking about the president of the united states. if that was in place, than a person like donald trump could never run for president.

host: bill is in new york on the independent line. go ahead. caller: i am registered -- i would like to see the party get organized on the state level. further your greens, i would like to see them risk a contact person for every county in new york state so we can better work to get back on the ballot again. thank you. host: what would you recommend people? let's go to one more call. this is surely in chicago. -- shirley in chicago. caller: all of our politicians should be working for all of the people, not just the people that they believe will bring them the most votes. crime is getting a all-time

high. i have never seen it so bad. christmas eve, our vehicle got stolen in front of our house. my husband is a senior, i am a senior. this is terrible. these criminals are getting more and more involved. they feel like they can do anything because they have this new no cash bail law coming. it is going to get worse. it is meant to be like the wild west. i am afraid. this is bad. host: before we end the program, a few words of a colleague of ours, if you watch this program for a wild, you may remember he was a host of it as well as others. over 1400 appearances that he made in our network. he was a driving force and it had a dedication.

he was remembered as a kind, nice and decent human being. from his family to our family, our deepest condolences. that is from our -- that is it for our program today. another addition of "washington journal" comes tomorrow morning. we will see you then. ♪ ♪ >> this week,but washington journal's authors series featuring a new writer. coming up friday morning, former assistant secretary for homeland security under president barack obama, faculty chair of the home integrated program at harvard's

kennedy school of government shares her book, "the devil never sleeps." watch live friday morning starting at 7:00 eastern for our special authors week series on c-span, or on c-span now, our free mobile video app. >> the 118 congress convenes on tuesday, january 3 at noon eastern for the first time in two years they returned to washington as a divided government. republicans will control the house of representatives while the democrats control the senate buys the majority. the new congress will also be more diverse with a record number of women serving, including more women of color. join the process as congress gaveled into session, holds the election for new speaker of the house, and new members take the oath of office.

new congress, new leaders. watch the opening day of the 118th congress on tuesday, january 3, at noon eastern live on c-span and c-span2, on c-span now, our free mobile video at, or online at c-span.org. >> there are a lot of places to get political information. but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here or here or here or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. host: