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[laughter] >> pretty good. ♪ announcer: -- host: good morning, it is saturday, august 19. president joe biden met yesterday with the leaders of japan and south korea. they merged with security cooperation, threat from china and north korea, the war in ukraine, and immigration at the southern border are all issues that have jaw -- drawn the white house recent attention. our attention for you this morning, what do you think is the top policy issues facing the united states. republicans, we want you to call us at (202) 748-8001. democrats, your line is (202) 748-8000. independents, we want you to dial a set (202) 748-8002. you can also send us a text

message at (202) 748-8003. please include your name and where you live. you can find us on facebook.com/cspan and on x and instagram @cspanwj. let's start off by hearing a little more from president biden coming out again with the talks with leaders of japan and south korea. he announced a plan to deepen security cooperation between the three to counter north korea and other threats from the end of pacific. host: our world stands at an inflection point, a point where we are called to lead in new ways, to work together, to stand together, and today i'm proud to say our nations are answering that call. first, we are elevating our trilateral defense collaboration to deliver in the end of pacific region including launching

annual maltese domain military exercises, bringing our trilateral defense cooperation to an unprecedented level, doubling down on immigration sharing, including on the dprk missile launches and cyber activity, strengthening our ballistic missile defense cooperation, and clinically -- critically, we committed to help each other for threats and any one of our countries occurs. that means we will have a hotline to coordinate responses whenever there's a crisis in the region or affecting any one of our countries. today we reaffirmed our shared commitment to maintain peace and stability in the taiwan straight and addressing economic coercion. we will continue to counter threats from the cp rk including cryptocurrency money laundering,

billions of dollars, potential arms transfer in support of russia's brutal war against ukraine and we stand up for international law and a peaceful resolution of disputes in the south china sea. host: that was president biden from yesterday after his summit with the leaders of south korea and japan. he is some coverage of the summit from this morning's newspapers. i wonder start with the washington post. the headline, biden held new unity with japan and south korea. it's as president biden sought to marking new era for one of the united states most high-profile trilateral partnerships friday using a first of its kind summit with his japanese and south korean counterparts at camp david. to announce new measures on defense, technology, education,

and other key areas of cooperation. "this is the first summit i have posted icam david and i cannot think of any more fitting location to begin the next era of cooperation." biden said at a joint news conference standing between japanese prime minister fumio kishida and south korean president -- the south korean president at his retreat in maryland. saying the commitment that the leaders stand to for time. this morning's is the new york times front page, it's on the summit from yesterday at camp david but there is little more now -- analysis here about the trump effect of those talks. it says the new three-way

security pack from president biden and the leaders of japan and south korea at camp david on saturday -- friday with threats by china and north korea in mind but there was one other possible factor driving the diplomatic breakthrough. donald j. trump. the former president's name appeared nowhere in the principles the leaders issued at the presidential retreat. one of the subtext was the possibility he could return to power in next year's election and disrupt ties with america's to close his allies in the end of pacific region, both japan and south korea struggled for four years as mr. trump threatened to scale back long-standing u.s. security and economic commitment while hosting china, russia, and others.

our question for you this morning, what do you think is the top foreign policy issue facing the unitestes? republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. let's start with jim in highland park, new jersey on the democratic line. caller: thank you very much for taking my phone call. host: go ahead. caller: the prime issue is what do we do with the three countries that are causing all the problems? and that is as was said in the new york times, china, russia, and north korea.

that is all i have to say. host: all right, jim. speaking of russia, of course the war in ukraine is also on the top of mind. the wall street journal hn article, the headline u.s. allows f-16 deliveries to ukraine western officials say. i will read a little bit from that article, it's as washington has clear the way to deliver f-16 jets to ukraine, u.s. authorities said friday, a potentially significant boost to the countries armed forces. those to help in the current counteroffensive aimed at pushing back russian forces. that being said, let's hear more from national security adviser jake sullivan. he was asked about the weapons transfer at a briefing yesterday with reporters at camp david. >> we are doing everything we

can to support ukraine in at counteroffensive. we will not handicap the outcome, we will not predict what is going to happen because this war has been inherently unpredictable and that is all i can save today other than i believe and have confidence in the capacity and special brave erie of the ukrainian fighters to continue to make progress on the battlefield. >> [indiscernible] >> in g7 in hiroshima, president biden indicated to his colleagues, his allies, and the world that he would support an effort to train ukrainian pilots on f-16s. what we did this week is formalize, the letter from secretary blinken to his counterparts in your, that upon the completion of the training, the united states would be prepared in consultation with congress to approve third-party transfer of f-16 aircraft to ukraine. that is a natural extension of what the president announced in

hiroshima. there have, for reasons i fully don't understand, questions about whether we would do that. to put those questions to rest that infect the training would be followed by the transfer as we work with congress to effectuate that with our allies, we underlined underscore and put an exclamation point on that this week. host: that was national security advisor jake sullivan yesterday in camp david. let's go back to the phone lines. greg in lancaster, texas, democratic line. what is the top foreign policy issue? caller: the top foreign policy issues china. china vowed they have one priority, and that is us, militarily and economically beating us. they are virtually invading us are now with buying up land all of the country. so there is no doubt.

china is the wildfire out of control. host: let's go now to barrington, rhode island, richard on the republican line. caller: we might have a little common ground with the former democratic caller there, prior democratic caller. certainly china is a large issue . but the primary at this point is russia just because we are in basically the two systems are in conflict and so that is the priority, but china is right behind them. could we have absolutely common ground with the democratic party? host: sounds like it. let's go to joseph. joseph is in worcester, massachusetts, independent line. caller: good morning, c-span. how are you doing? host: good morning. what is the top foreign policy issue? caller: russia.

russia, russia, russia. just like marsha, marsha, marsha. if we do not get a hold of it, russia is going to influence the whole african continent and, me as a black conscious minded person and i live in america and want to see america do good for africa continent, you have russia and miger -- niger. russia in the democratic republic of condo -- congo. the races element in american government seems to be taking over. i am at him supporter because i know a good man when i see a good man but the racist element is taking over, creating hatred among people of color, especially dark skinned black people. and africa, that is what african

leaders are talking about. so these countries give lip service about civil rights but you have people that can't be their kids. then you have these multi-corporations going in and giving lip service about educating on human rights. what do you expect when we can give a to hundred dollar micro loan to a single mother who lost her husband in the civil war? and you go in there and you give lip service. at $200 micro loan and she could do some selling, open the house to feed her kids. obviously we are waking up and realizing how these politicians in america are. don't care for black people. connie west was right. have a nice day. host: next caller, democratic

line in virginia. caller: thank you for taking my call. as an african, i'm disappointed on the previous caller who does not know what is talking about. telling the russians are helping africa. there giving weapons to other dictators so we can kill each other. the point is not -- the reason i call is the most dangerous countries now is china, russia, and saudi arabia. america needs to focus. what they're doing in the middle east right now, emirates and south america, they start going after the united states to put them down, even though we stand every time there's a problem in the country and we help them and we have done everything for them and build their military but right now, this prince right now is doing everything. he is in coots with putin and

china, inviting those leaders to the country so that our dollar will go down and destroy this country. the reason right now the gasoline prices are going up, because he knows donald trump is running for election soon and make americans difficult to buy oil. what the president did yesterday was unheard of. this president, he is solving the problem the previous president did. there's a difference here, that someone who knows how to lead and someone who will try to stay out of jail. russians want to see donald trump coming back so he can invite them in the white house and do whatever they want. host: all right, john. our next caller is eddie on the republican line from millbury, massachusetts. caller: there is an african saying, speak softly and carry a

big stick. the new york times criticized trump for going over to russia and china and korea and speaking to them. notice when trump was in, nothing happened. it was his prior, obama, who had trouble and annexation in ukraine. it was biden w h trouble, further troubles, withusa. so it is trump who speaks softly but he carries a big stick. he is for our defense departnt. thank you. host:ll right, eddie. next up is gordon, florida, republican line. caller: good morning. the reason why i'm calling is there are several people that talked about how great biden is. i'm sorry, weeed to get rid of that man. is floundering in the world, an

embarrassment to the country, and i don't know what you are because he is a disaster. we need to get trump or somebody , maybe not trump, but somebody like trump back inhehite house to straighten themselves out. we were flying high and wide with trump in the white house and then we geth clown. that's all it got to say, thank you. host: jim is calling from texas on the independent line. caller: it is tim. host: i'm sorry. caller: with a southern accent. i'm a small business owner and it doesn't matter where we stand on -- i have to believe,

in my heart and soul, that we have to start with democrat and republican, that is division. i'm not going to use the r word, racism, that is ridiculous. it is about whoever is going to get the job done and going to get in there and do the right job. it is not about property. they could take money underneath there. we see this daily, seven days a week, i work 150 days straight, seven days a week, 14 hours a day. write out in 107 agreed. all we want is the economy to go forward and that is all we want. host: all right, tim. next is tom, illinois, democratic line. your top foreign policy issue, tom?

caller: i agree with the previous caller that china is probably our top issue as well as vladimir putin in russia. what i called about was to warn other callers. i don't like this asteria that keeps creeping up we have to cheat -- up. we have to treat china seriously, saudi arabia seriously, but we also have to trust our leadership, trust that we have things like the intelligence community that monitors what is going on with these countries all the time, we have allies in certain regions like a joe biden met with south korea and japan to keep some of those rogue nations in check. what i fear is we will wind up with some fulfilling prophecy

where we get into it with some of these countries and it leads to world war iii or leads to something horrific, so i would caution, so i would caution leaders and fellow americans to help out a little bit. you need to be vigilant and another words i think joe biden has done a terrific job with foreign policy, reestablishing our nato alliance, going against putin in the ukraine which has been going well and other foreign policy issues i trust him -- policy issues. i trust him. we are coming up to tumultuous years in the presidency and what happened with trump and the riots, even in the foreign policy blunders. i think joe biden is a perfect

man for the job right now. stabilizing things. host: all right, tom. let's go to the republican line now. stanley is calling from el dorado, arkansas. caller: yes, ma'am. all i'm saying is if you remember why we are all -- why were all the votes deleted two days after the election, that is not a normal process. just like yesterday, he could not remember who he was supposed to be introducing. he is crooked and he is dumb, and if we don't get him out, if he cheats in the next election like he did the other one, before his second term is up with, we will be a communist under democratic rule. there will not be a republican

party. there will to be no more votes. it will be a dictatorship. this is what the democrats want. this is what it will be. host: all right. john is calling from hermitage, tennessee, democratic line. caller: the previous caller, come on, man. i grew up -- i'm 64 years old and from what i've seen, we take one step forward in two steps back. talking about racial issues, we're going to keep on talking about that. the main thing is are we doing good for the world? and yes we are compared to russia and china. the people know that. people are getting smarter now and this trump thing, the guy wasn't even supposed to be in office if he had not ran any part of our country, he never

ran. so why these people backing him up? i do not know, i do not care. the bottom line is we are americans and it is going to work. we always take one step forward, two steps back. just like the meeting with biden with japan and south korea. all of a sudden we have a fire in maui. before that? come on, man. it's a cycle thing. i grew up, you guys went to grade school, junior high school, and high school and you vote for trump bang. -- trump. we pledge allegiance to the flag, do that. host: again we are talking today about the top foreign policy issue facing the united states. as a reminder, republicans, your line is (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000.

independents, (202) 748-8002. before we go back to the phone lines, i want to read some of the responses we are receiving via text message and on social media. this one is from deb rogers on x. it's is the top foreign policy is the open border. the flood of fentanyl is killing hundreds of thousands of americans, 7 million migrants poured into cities with no housing or jobs, taxes pay for migrant food and hotels. without a border, we do not have a country. steve writes, today, the war in ukraine long turn china. if we don't stay supported in ukraine and support victory, the chinese will invade taiwan. china is watching, waiting, and learning.

the next says oil wars were permanently mired in the middle east for exxon and they don't pay a penny for their own defense. this is a text message from joseph in fayetteville, north carolina. it says the development of international gains of drug trafficking is the greatest threat to the u.s. because these people can destroy government and states worldwide. look at haiti and somalia and sudan and iran. i will do a couple more from facebook. kevin good night rights joe biden and his lack of leadership in the world. steve rothstein says defending ukraine is about the statement of the rule of law and democratic alliances to protect it. autocrats and authoritarians are all watching to see what putin can get away with and will plan accordingly. the outcome will have a profound impact for the decades that follow where the rule of law and

liberal -- for the rule of law and liberal democracy. that was some of the responses on social media and text message, but we want to hear from you. what is the top foreign policy issue facing the united states? republicans, 202, 748 -- republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (20 7-8000. independents(202) 748-8002. and you can text us (202) 748-8003. up next, we have mike on the independent line. what is the top foreign policy issue, mike. caller: china. host: why do you say china? caller: clearly you had their foreign intelligence or whatever operating many espionage agents within the united states. the initiative and overpriced loans in central and south

america. the caller from africa things africa has a perfect example. they use their finances down the road and are charging interest and these african countries can never pay this back. it is happening in central america so they allow the troops in, they let them use their mines. i don't think russia is that much of a threat because it appears, it is almost a stalemate and i think even ukraineians are probably -- ukrainians are probably losing and china will use that for the next way which will be clearly invading taiwan. that is the threat clearly. host: all right, mike. up next on the line is sal from bayon, can you make sure i pronounce that correctly , on the republican line. caller: i think we should go after ukraine. ukraine is the main issue because if we go after ukraine, it will send -- i think china is

the main issue but we should go to ukraine first with russia. because if we do that, it will send the chinese a message. if you go after one country, we will go after you. we go after ukraine, liberate ukraine, defeat the russians in ukraine, we liberate the ukrainians, and we will get the chinese a message that they will not succeed with taiwan and that will put them in their place. host: next on the line is charles in dearborn, michigan, independent line. caller: i think the top foreign policy issue is the united states to itself and it is our own terrible foreign policy.

we are like a bull in a china shop, that expression. the media really helps propagandizing. when they say china and russia is an enemy of the united states , i don't get that at all personally. they are not an enemy to me. they might be an enemy to joe biden or antony blinken, but china and russia are not. my enemies would be the oligarchs running this country like gaetz and bezos and mosque -- musk, and the people they control, the politicians. i have no foreign policy issue, we have to look in our meteor -- mirror, that is our foreign policy issue. host: all right, charles. david is calling from new

jersey. caller: yes, my number one concern is russia. we lived near an f-16 base. near lane city. given the f-16s, given the equipment that the and pound putin, this guy is nothing but trouble. what we have been hearing about how they kidnap the kids, how they take the men and do things to them, it is like world war ii all over again we are watching it. instead of giving our sons and daughters, let's give them the equipment they can beat them. host: all right, david. renee is next, calling from west palm beach, florida on the democratic line. caller: good morning. the biggest issue that america faces or biggest foreign policy issue is the pushback against imperialism and colonialism in

africa and niger kicking the french out. also, the movement, the 2024 upcoming election of julius moe lima in south africa. and the african union, the whole coming together of these nations and african union and trying to prevent going to war because of what is happening in niger. in the nations in the west, western africa, they do not want war in the region and they are pushing back against imperialism, colonialism, americanism, and getting the french out. more power to them. host: renee mentioned the kind of political instability in niger.

this is an article in politico and the headline is france/u.s. relations grow tense over niger coup. the article says the coup in niger is injecting fresh tension into the france/u.s. alliance. the two countries are at odds over how to respond to the ouster of the west african country president in july. france is refusing to diplomatically engage with them and strongly supports a regional body that has threatened military intervention. the u.s. has sent a bastion envoy to meet with the leadership and held back from officially declaring a coup, saying there still a negotiated way to restore democracy. that is the latest on niger ezra mentioned -- as mentioned by renee in the previous calls. let's go to owings mills,

maryland, been on the independent line. caller: good morning. for me it is the military alliance that china, russia, and north korea and iran have fostered and the expansion into africa and also in south america . i think it is inevitable that we will end up going to war with some type of war with the combination of these countries. so i just believe we are focusing on some type of way to gray diplomatic relationships or give and take, maybe our position in taiwan or something but i think that will be the main issue. host: all right, ben just mentioned china, and before we get to a little more about the

security concerns about china, there is also a potential economic crisis in china starting to draw attenon. i want to read a little bit, from insider. insider rights china's hopes for a post-pandemic economic rebound have been dashed this year with second-order gdp figures falling short of forecasters expectations and falling prices plunging the country into deflationary territory for the first time since 2021. beijing responded by cutting interest rates and stopped publishing unflattering use unemployment figures in a desperate attempt to pretend everything is ok. in a research note published friday, bank of america strategist michael hartnett called the latest china numbers "positively shocking and warned of the heightened risk of a major credit event that would send prices lower and require a

coordinated international response. the ongoing liquidity crises for country garden and shadow bay are one potential source of event to risk he added. so that is about the economic crisis in china, but now, let's hear more from president biden. even as the topic of china looms large at yesterday's trilateral meeting, between presidentiden and the leaders of japan and south korea, in public the president spoke cautiously about tensions with china. [video clip] >> this summit was not about china. that was not the purpose of the meeting. china obviously came up. not to say we don't share concerns about the economic coercion or heightened tensions caused by china, but this summit was really about our relationship with each other and deepening cooperation across an

entire range of issues that went well beyond the immediate issues we raised. it was about more peaceful and prosperous and a pacific, a region quite frankly that would benefit everyone living there and around the world to get it right. host: that was president biden speaking about tensions with china at yesterday's summit from camp david. one of the top foreign policies facing the united states. next up is dutch calling from danville, indiana on the republican line. good morning. i was just kind of flipping through channels and noticed the number. we are talking about problems around the world in the first place. i don't think we necessarily have to be all that concerned about some of those areas. the biggest thing now is to make

sure that people in the united states are behind our government , and it has been difficult. some of the craft that is going on certainly the fact that the biden -- were filling their pockets. why wasn't that balloon shut down when first entering u.s. airspace around alaska or certainly before it entered the united states proper. we waited. was there a deal cooked up or where they would allow this to happen. -- happen? it does not appear anymore our government is on our side. that is basically it. that is my biggest concern. i'm not concerned about eating anybody except beating ourselves and that is what it appears -- what appears to be happening now. host: let's go to the democratic line, kenny is in ellen borough

-- ellenburgoh, north carolina. caller: our biggest foreign policy problem is what liz cheney called the putin wing of the republican party. it's the leadership in the house. when they still say the election was stolen, even though 62 times their own hands pick -- handpick supreme court said no, they don't believe, they will not following -- follow the ruling of their own supreme court, so don't tell me they are the party of law and order. i don't believe that. they are here -- if you listen to them and the ones campaigning now are running for vice president for trump. they won't run him down.

there's lots of things, but if they don't negotiate in good faith, don't negotiate in good faith anything. thank you so much. host: william is our next caller on the democratic line from maryland. caller: good morning. from maryland. and think you so much for this program. i definitely feel that our primary international policy, at this point, should be making sure putin does not succeed in taking over the ukraine. in turn, if we make sure that happens, the chinese will take second thoughts about taiwan. i believe that the trump

administration is primarily responsible for this entire fiasco with ukraine. i think of the democrats had been in that. of time, -- an office that. of time -- an office in that period of time, we wouldn't have this problem. host: william mentioned ukraine so i want to bring up an article from the new york times front page. the headline, dead and her tiny ukraine war nearing 500,000 -- again that is this morning's "new york times", saying the total number of ukrainian troops killed or wounded since the war began 18 months ago is nearing 500,000 u.s. officials said. a staggering toll as russia

assaulted its next-door neighbor and tries to seize more territory. the officials caution casualty figures remain difficult to estimate because moscow is believed to routinely undercount its war dead and injured and keep does not disclose official figures. but they say this broader intensifies this year in eastern ukraine and continued at a steady clip as a nearly three month old counteroffensive drags on. russia's military casualties the officials said approached 300,000. the number includes as many as 101 he thousand deaths and 170 to 180 south -- 80,000 injured troops. the western numbers wharf ukrainian figures which the officials put it close to 70,000 kills in 100,000 to 120 thousand wounded. russians outnumber ukrainians on the battlefield almost three to one and russia has a larger population from which to replenish its ranks. so that is the latest, dead and

hurt in the ukraine war, near 500,000. let's go back to the phone lines, carol is calling from orange, california, republican line. what is your top foreign policy issue, carol? caller: dealing with the communists. we have a big problem with the communist party. we other communists in china a bunch of money. i don't know how we will pay back. we are so far in debt, we are passing it to our kids, and i think we ought to have restraint going out, fighting and all of these wars. we give the ukraine's tons of money, and we keep giving them more, and that should be a european problem, not ours. thank you.

caller: let's go back -- host: let's go back to some of the responses we are receiving on social media when it comes to today's question. robert williams on facebook writes dismantling our massive military industrial complex and reallocating the money to other priorities in our own country. universal health care, low cost for free preschool/daycare, and fix social security. the military industrial complex will bankrupt the country. here's another from twitter, from chris in sussex, new jersey . either we defend constitutional rule of law and right to due process under the law, which china, russia, north korea, it's a drug, want to undermine or we don't. u.s. politicians want to abandon ukraine in nato, leaf south korea and japan, china, russia, north korea, etc. are hoping for

that. julianne on facebook, america funding all these foreign wars and entanglements. jean writes iran getting a nuke and we will get more to that, but let's go back to the phone lines in pennsylvania. thatcher, democratic line. thatcher, are you there? caller: yes, how are you doing? host: good, what is your top foreign policy issue? caller: this is all i got to say about it, putin, whatever they do to ukraine, they should rebuild ukraine. and then all this would be stuff and everything from china and they go to work, can't we can

address and send it back to you. we just buy things here, there, wherever. how can we get it to work? nothing is changing. why can't we all just get along? you know? host: thatcher, appreciate your call. the previous caller mentioned iran as a top foreign policy concern. here's an article in politico with the headline, republicans slam bidens deal, free americans in iran, as "appeasement." here's a look at the article. it says republicans on key foreign panels are criticizing and unfolding plans that would release americans imprisoned in iran because it involves giving

the islamist regime access to billions of dollars with one calling it a "ransom." senator jim rich of idaho, the top republican on the senate foreign relations committee, his reservations as americans were moved from an iranian prison to hotel or house arrest, a key early step in the deal. the plan involves many parts and it is likely to take weeks to implement. republican opposition adds another variable to an already fragile situation. on that note, here's a little of former president donald trump criticizing the biden administration's agreement with iran while praising his own record bringing american hostages home. [video clip] >> joe biden agreed to pay a $6 million ransom to the uranian leadership for exchange of

hostages this is another biden surrender and further blistering humiliation to the nine states of america on the world stage. worse, this decision will be deadly. biden is giving $6 billion to the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, just as when obama said the iranian regime -- sent the iranian regime plane loads of cash in the dark of night. bidens ransom payment will be used to stoke violence, bloodshed, and mayhem throughout the middle east and all around the world, costing countless innocent lives. it is also guaranteed the fanatical iranian regime will use this money to advance their nuclear weapons program, putting israel, the united states, and entire world in grave peril. they are reportedly weeks away from a nuclear bomb, something which would have never happened under the trump administration. tragically, bidens ransom payments also make a dramatically -- it dramatically

more likely even more americans will be held captive in the future because biden has shown he will pay sums of money, meaning the kidnappers turning massive profit. they are making money hand over fist. in other words, biden put a bounty on the head of every american citizen abroad. under my leadership, we brought home more than 50 hostages from all over the world and we never paid ransom money to do it, not at all. we did it with diplomacy and we did it through strength, and we will do it again when we are reelected as president of the united states. host: that was former president trump criticizing president biden over his agreement with iran. he noted that he says under his leadership more than 50 hostages were brought home internationally, but our question for you is, what is the top foreign policy issue facing the u.s.?

republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents. (202) 748-8002. next up we have bill in wyandotte, michigan, independent line. caller: good morning, america. i don't think we have to worry about china and russia. whatever they are going to do we will allow it. the guy has been paid off. he will let them do whatever they want to. thank you. host: let's go to sabrina now. sabrina calling from texas, republican line. caller: yes, i am calling because of the caller before this was correct. the only reason we are in the problems we have in ukraine right now is because of the biden family corrupt criminals. host: all right, sabrina. allie is our next caller,

democratic line in virginia. caller: yes, i want to make sure that trump supporters make sure they know this money is not a ransom, it is iranian money that was held in the united states, so it is not a ransom, it is not taking u.s. money. anyway, my point is my fear honestly as china. i am from africa and what china is doing in africa is not good. they are exploiting -- that may not ever be paid. that is my main point. thank you for taking my call. host: let's go back a little bit more for what we are getting on social media.

cat heart rights "i think it is the battle waged daily from gop interference with the biden administration. never have i seen any congress site opposing for nations as the benchmark we must strive to follow until the trump gop, they are trying to weaken our standing in the eyes of the world enough." josh mays writes on facebook the politicians have created so many problems at home but makes anyone think they can solve any problems abroad. watch for new sources and you will see the u.s. is not welcomed with open arms as many outlets suggest. the military-industrial complex needs to be shrunk by cutting wasteful war spending. scott writes, in the later half of the 20 century, we created

almost all our own foreign policy problems with the exception of the religious fundamentalists in some parts of the world. by allowing u.s. companies to trade with and get labor in countries like china, this just built the monsters we are facing today. until corporations learn to be people driven before profit driven, we will continue to careen toward world war iii. again, that is some of the responses we are receiving on facebook. i want to go now to analysis, first former president trump's foreign policy. this was an opinion piece in the washington post written by sue m eterry, a former analyst and director for green affairs at the secured counseling cowritten by a washington post columnist

and senior fellow at the council he is an excerpt.ons. it says trump had one solid death berlin attic ament -- one solid diplomatic achievement, iand ree nations he was better at dismantling international structures. for example the iran nuclear deal in the players, -- and paris climate accord. his diplomacy where his flashy summits with kim jong-un which failed to achieve thei unrealistic goals of the nuclear rising n korea. biden had his fareetbas, the pullout from afghanista inability to revive the iran deal. overall however, he has been shrewd are and more successful. biden recognizes as trump did not that it is easier and often more productive to strike deals with friends rather than with enemies. that is from a recent op-ed in

the washington post comparing biden and trump foreign policy. let's quebec to the phone lines. tosh on the independent line from nor folk, virginia. what is the top foreign policy issue? caller: good morning. for me personally, because i consider myself an african, this is going on in the african diaspora. china is not like the u.s. and haiti is off the coast of the u.s.. instead of the u.s. intervening, they are sending -- when the people are asking for people power. they don't want the elite to be charged anymore. in the situation in niger echoed our desire what is going on. they are trying to be cute on what is going on in the country. leave them alone and mind your business.

there's a revolution party. please speak to people that are actually doing the work and look at the nation to get your news. host: here's a quick bit about haiti because that has come up a couple times. iss a recent article in al jazeera, headline hades crisis deepens us thousands displaced by violence. the article, a surge in violence in parts of haiti's capital over the past week has pushed more than 3000 people to flee their homes, including many who have been forced to seek shelter in improvised sites that leave them vulnerable to attacks. more than half of these eternally displaced people have had to leave their temporary accommodations and host communities where the improvised sites were dire, the international organization for migration set on wednesday.

so again, a lot of displaced people with the continued instability in haiti. let's take another caller. randall, oklahoma city, democratic line, go ahead, randall. >> the former president you had on here mischaracterized everything. the $6 billion iran is going to get, they will not get $6 billion, they are going to unfreeze the money from south korea and they're not going to have access to any of the money. they will only be able to use the money to buy food and medicine. i think switzerland will handle that. so it is not our money, it was their money from oil sales to south korea. our number one foreign policy issue is to cut our $886 billion military budget down to about $200 billion so we quit fighting

these foreign wars and get all our service members killed for no good reason. it is going to break our country and it has. that is i guess what my number one -- and i'm not antimilitary. my dad was in the army for 13 years. we do not -- in defense, there is no defense, it is the department of aggression. anyway, that is it. i wish we could have some diplomacy rather than aggressive , you know, other countries like that. host: we appreciate your call this morning. let's hear from bill now calling from beaumont, california, independent line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. go ahead. what is your top foreign policy issue? caller: i believe the top foreign policy issue is with

china and the main thing i'm so concerned with, especially in california, and a lot of these major cities, is the drugs pouring through and over the border. i think it is mostly coming in from that side and china is supporting that. the homeless issue during our country at this point is prevalent in most of the mental illness and most of that is the people are getting addicted to these drugs. i know a lot of it is because of the demand, but we have got to stop these drugs coming across the border. china is supporting that in a very negative situation, very highly concerned with what pat is doing to our youth and the population at large. host: bill, appreciate your

call. i want to read another op-ed, this one from vandenberg coalition's samuel spires, a former policy analyst in the office of the secretary of the navy and the foreign policy researcher for the vandenberg coalition, which is a conservative foreign-policy nonprofit that advocates on defense spending. this is what he said in analyzing presidden's foreign policy. ever since august 2021, it been apparent biden does not exhibit the principal respe and effective statesmanship on the world stage that americans expect and deserve from their leaders. afghanistan is part and parcel of biden week strategy in the middle et d around the world. from day oden appeased iran's terrorist regime, abandoniage gained through his predecessors maximum pressure policy, paying over $1

billion each for the release of u.s. hostages, and bending over backwards to iran, back into a sweetheart nuclear deal. the result in the islamic republic on the verge of nuclear weapons free to send russian drones and missiles to fire at ukrainian civilians and growing closer to china. we are going to leave that conversation there and take a quick break. next, we will be joined by the co-authors of the almanac of american politics. rich cohen, louis jacobsen, and jessica taylor, to talk about the 2024 addition of the almanac and big political news. ♪

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jacobson, and jessica taylor. they will be discussing the release of their 2024 e addition as well as the presidential campaign and key congressional races to -- editio n as well as the presidential campaign and key congressional races to watch. rich, explain how this book came about and what is in it. guest 1: thank you for having us all here to talk about the almanac. the almanac began in 1972. it is the brainchild of michael marone. he started it and did a remarkable job in sustaining it as the chief officer for 44 years. his premise when he began the

almanac in 1972 was to create a book, which did not exist. there is no competition now. occasionally other organizations do somewhat similar things but there is nothing quite like the almanac. we include profiles of all 535 matter -- members of congress and profiles of the 50 governors and profiles of the house districts and the states. the book is published every two years. we update profiles, we add new private -- new profiles of incoming members and it is a lot of work. lou and jessica are senior authors. they are vital to the operation. i focus more on house profiles, lou does cover nerves and states, just go work some

senators -- does governors and states, jessica works on senators. host: talk about how you go about understanding parts of the country, particularly that reporters do not normally get to, and how do you capture the changing demographics, or anything else in various congressional districts? guest 1: this is a particularly challenging year because it is the first one after redistricting. every previous description we had had to be pretty thoroughly -- guest 2: this is a particularly challenging year because it is the first one after redistricting. every previous description we had, had to be pretty thoroughly updated.

rich took a first crack at all of those districts and i took a second crack. basically, except for the small handful of states that have only one district, every district was changed in some way. in my career i have done a lot of traveling around the country as a reporter. my goal has been to file a story from every straight -- every state. most of that was done 20 years ago, but i still do a fair amount of traveling now. all of the reporting i have done has given me a flavor of a lot of geographical locations around the u.s. for this particular book, i spent a day with a tour guide in brooklyn and queens because there is a budget of districts

there, and you can cover a lot of them in one day, so i hired a tour guide who is very familiar with demographics and the neighborhoods in about five, six seven districts there. that helped me do a thorough rewrite of those districts. we get a lot of assistance from our great research team. we have 5 or six researchers who come up with 20 to 25 news clips from the last 10 years for each book for each senator, each district. that keeps it fresh. we are not writing every chapter from scratch. we are updating based on new

reporting and new data for each chapter. guest 1: i said the three of us are actively involved. forgive me for overlooking other people, senior people, namely charlie cook a long time washington punted wrote the -- pundit wrote the opening essay. peck serves as our third senior author. host: speaking of jessica, we will bring her in in just a moment. i want to let our viewers know about our phone lines. we one do to start calling in now so we can get to your questions about not just of the almanac, but about the news of the day, upcoming high-profile races, whether it is in congress or the various states.

republicans, if you have questions for our own writers, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also send us a text message at (202) 748-8003. for our viewers who may not necessarily work on the hill, non-journalists, how can they find the information in this almanac useful? what can every day people find as far as an understanding of politics from this book? guest: what i love about -- guest 3: every voter in the country lives in a state somewhere. it enables them to learn more about their members the history of their district how we got

here, and it tells us the electoral history, the political history, the economic history. a lot of articles that these researchers pulled together -- being a part of this team is a full circle moment because my first job out of college was as a researcher for the almanac. back in the day, we printed everything out and underlined things and highlighted things, and i carried boxes of clips to rich and to michael barone. now we do it all digitally with google docs, but it is a full circle moment to me that impressed upon me as a young student -- this was a critical bug i used when i was in college, writing papers and trying to learn about things. i also think the almanac has a very unique voice.

it is not just telling you straight bio in a way. it is humorous at parts. it is funny. there is a voice to the almanac that we try to capture each cycle as you read the profiles you can really tell that. you can get the hard copy, which is what longtime junkies want to do, but we have online versions for people to use in their research. it is a richly written profile of americana. it is the economy, the industry that makes up this patchwork of 50 states. host: we also want to talk to our guests this morning about campaign 2024 and other political news. let's turn to the republican debate, which is coming up on wednesday.

kind of extraordinary -- a very specific debate memo was released by a super pac that is supporting florida governor ron desantis. this is a new york times article about that memo. it says "ron desantis needs to 'take a sledgehammer to the back ramaswamy.' he needs to attack joe biden and the media no less than three t five times." that was a super pac for ron desantis giving what they felt he needs to do in wednesday night's debate. we won't even get into how unprecedented it is for such a memo to be published, guiding a

candidate's debate strategy. lou, is this the approach you expect to see across the board from these candidates on wednesday night in trump's absence we think? guest 2: i think so. it seems like the candidates, with a few exceptions like chris christie have decided that donald trump is so popular among the republican base that they cannot afford to take him on directly. it is sort of a weird political moment where that is the case. he is the front runner and normally you would think of the number 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the race to take on the front

runner. their best way to claim the nomination is not to take him on indirectly but hope he fails sometime later in the campaign cycle due to his legal concerns. host: i will show you the real clear politics pulling average. trump is still way ahead. this is the pulling average as of a couple days ago. desantis comes in at 15%. ramaswamy who was politically unknown 16 months ago is in third place. behind him, mike pence, nikki haley, tim scott. jessica, i want to ask you, vivek ramaswamy has risen to third place. why do you think he has gained prominence as a political newcomer so quickly? guest 3: we have seen in the past recent elections that political outsiders that come

in, even ones -- donald trump was a political outsider, but he had been a ubiquitous name on the apprentice and different things for years so he was well known. we see people from the tech world and other areas gain prominence. there was ben carson in 2016. in 20 you had andrew yang and -- in 2020 you had andrew yang in the democratic field. he is young. at the iowa state fair he rapped eminem! he the something different. he -- he is something different. this debate, this memo was unprecedented. we have seen super pac's try and do something similar before where they put some thing out

there, but not a memo of this length. desantis is the candidate taking on water. he was supposed to be that answer to take on trump. that has not happened. i expect a lot of the candidates to try and take shots at desantis. you see ramaswamy boom, so it was interesting me in this memo that the super pac's urging desantis to go after him. he feels a little bit like the candidate of the moment, but i will be watching for some of the more establishment type candidates to see if they can have a breakout moment. tim scott has a profile that could catch fire, especially in a place like iowa, which seems to be where donald trump would more vulnerable. he has not done as well there.

he lost the caucus there last time narrowly to ted cruz. this is the biggest stage ramaswamy would ever be on. political outsiders have become more of a norman politics, not just at the presidential level. -- norm in politics, not just at the presidential level. this is another person who was trying to break into that in some ways. a few months ago he was a political unknown. host: let's open up the phone lines. republicans, we want you to call us with your questions not just about the almanac but about political news of the day, or about any of the candidates you are interested in. that number for republicans is (202) 748-8001.

democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. text us, (202) 748-8003. we are going to the phone lines right now, mike in akron, ohio. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. when i was growing up, my congressman was john fiber weighing in the 1980's. he spoke out against goldstein. thanks to him -- i was in tim ryan's district. his district included northwest akron. northwest akron is the furthest part of akron, but because of gerrymandering, i really loved tim ryan. he replaced a guide named jim

traffic and. he reminds me of donald trump. he was a democrat, but one of his most famous quotes was "i deal with the mafia all the time and sometimes i can't tell the mafia from the fbi." he made the democrats look wishy-washy. then we got donald trump. i love people from youngstown. i have a friend from youngstown, ohio. he tells me that the mafia works in youngstown, but they live in warrant. when people think -- for the mafia youngstown is the midpoint between chicago and new york. they turned red for trump, youngstown, youngstown turned

red for trump. akron, we are as blue as can be. i wonder what you think the future of ohio, which is becoming a red state -- i would like it to be more purple. is there any hope that ohio can be a purple state? as an independent, ia would like ohio to be purple. i am glad issue one failed. not because of abortion, because i want ohio to be purple state again. guest 1: i have a couple points to make. i have a close connection to akron, ohio, which is where my wife is from and where we got married. the city of akron has changed a lot over the years, including since i first connected to the city. it used to be the rubber capital

of the world. they don't make many automobile tires in youngstown. akron used to be the -- i would make one brief point, and i invite others to join. the caller mentioned issue one, which was the referendum to change the rules for approval of referendums so they would need more than a simple majority. that was defeated. that was a significant step in recent ohio politics. it will make it more likely that another referendum coming this november to open abortion rights

procedures in ohio, more likely that will pass. whereas ohio has been moving clearly to a more conservative, more republican direction, i think this referendum and its approval raises questions. host: next step, pat, decatur, illinois,, go ahead. caller: i was wanting to comment on the initial opening statements, and it seems to me as a republican and a supporter of ron desantis that your guests are repeating the dominant washington narrative that all of the republicans are weak. they will drive trump to the nomination again because the media wants a biden-trump race. the reality is the constant

refrain that the republicans are afraid of attacking trump is just ridiculous. i have listened to tons of interviews with desantis at least and he is not it all afraid. the media is concerned because he does not attack him like a democrat would. he is not attacking him over january 6. he is attacking him from where republicans are. he is attacking him for turning the country over to factory. he is attacking him for not being as effective as he should have been at dismantling the deep state. he is attacking him a lot, but not in the way that the media wants so they want to characterize him as weak. it is just not real. guest 2: i was just going to say that governor desantis was really a key player in the

current almanac, to bring back to the almanac. he was the last chapter that i wrote of all the governors and the states because he had such a hugely long list of items he was getting passed. we basically write the book between december and may, and i kept putting him off because things kept passing, and passing, and passing, and i wanted it to be as complete as possible. it is one of the more detailed legislative agendas i have ever had to deal with in writing the almanac because it was so long, and it went so late in the process. he definitely did very well in the 2022 election and in the

period before he officially became a candidate. host: let's hear from ronald colling on the independent line from new hampshire. -- ronald calling on the independent line from new hampshire. caller: we cannot believe anything politician say. they never keep their promises. my suggestion to the voters is to do the following four steps. make a list of what you want. if you want a fair tax system, you to legalize abortion, make a list of all the stuff you want. then register for the party that your congresspeople are in, because congress makes the laws. register for the party that your congresspeople are in. then ignore the media. don't watch debates, don't do anything. 2 weeks before the primary, pull out your list, see which things got done.

if more than half of the things on your list got done, great, vote for the incumbent. do the same thing in the general election. that is the only way to make this thing work. all we can go by his results. host: jessica, do you have any thoughts about that caller's statement about how to make a decision at election time? guest 3: with the almanac really drives home is how polarized our country has become. the caller mentioned the primaries. what we have seen a change in the last several years, especially with redistricting, as we have fewer and fewer competitive seats. that means more and more races, especially open seat races, are decided in primaries. the motivating factor we see from a lot of these members of congress is reelection.

if you are in a safe district, that will be towing the party line and make sure you don't upset people so you won't draw a primary challenger. if you are in a competitive seat, then you have to skew more towards the middle, but with the decrease in competitive seats, that has meant a more polarized congress, a more competitive congress. what is important to you? i haven't heard some of those ideas before, but i encourage everyone, voting in primaries is often where your candidates are picked. guest 1: i would point out, following up with what jessica said, the washington post in the last day or two has a terrific piece by their longtime political reporter dan bolles,

and dan's piece is called "the cracking of democracy," in which he writes about many of the challenges that we have been talking about here. one can argue about how serious. the threats are to democracy there are different points of view, but dan and the washington post in that piece lay out a lot of serious challenges that we face. guest 2: one complication is that in a lot of states you cannot vote in a party if you are independent. often you see in those states there is a bit more moderate nominee coming out of the primary process because you have so manys independent moderate voting as well. in a closed primary you are typically having the most left

and most right to voters voting in the primary, and you tend to get very polarized candidates that way. host: another caller, mike, in houston, texas, republican line. caller: i have a rhetorical question. maybe you will answer after i am done. why does the presidential campaign even matter? i would argue that the media is going to support joe biden all the way through. the reason i say that in 2019, 2020, we would have thought that joe biden just landed in d.c. for the first time in his life. he has never had to pay a price for his bad ideas, his bad policies, or his controversial comments, his controversial associations in a 46 year career. he has lived in the most

comfortable zip codes, in four homes and no one in the media is even slightly curious to ask the questions. joe biden does not even have to campaign. he does not have to fill circles at any campaign stop. what is the point? host: all right, mike. rich? guest 1: i take a little bit of issue with mike in houston. the polls show that president biden is struggling right now in terms of public approval and in terms of reelection. it remains to be seen, obviously have, the presidential election plays out and i'm certainly not going to defend or take sides in terms of how the media has covered biden, but he is struggling . that would make him -- a little

bit of a defense of president biden, he has supported congress through a significant part of his agenda. chips, climate change -- most of what he wanted, they did an act for better or worse. how the public will react remains to be seen. host: here is a news article about biden's approval. only 36% of u.s. adults approve of biden's handling of the economy, slightly lower than the 42% who approve of his overall performance. that is according to a new poll from the associated press. below 50% on both indicators. let's take another call. this is lori. lori is in hamburg, pennsylvania

democratic line. caller: i was just calling an important thing is for everyone to get involved. we have are really low turnout vote across our nation. a a lot of people say it is corrupt in your vote doesn't count, but it does at the, state level the local level, and the federal level, and when you are involved in the system, and if you can learn it, and learn how it works -- you are in pennsylvania, they signed the budget, but the republican senate has to write the legislation and send that money out. meanwhile, it is sitting there because they are not backed. joe biden is a very intelligent legislator. ever since he has been in the job, he admits when he made wrong decisions, but he stepped

up to the plate and he had to make a vote and he based it on the best thing he knew at the time. host: lori, we got your point. we appreciate it. guest 1: someone who has covered state politics for a few -- guest 2: as someone who has covered state politics for a few years now, the landscape is increasingly polarized. a lot of major policy decisions have filtered down to the states. it is still polarized, but with congress being so polarized and often at odds with the, president it has left a vacuum. state legislative seats, people don't necessarily know the names of their legislator but those are really important post and they makes a lot of difference

in the lives of so many americans. the caller has a point. a small number of votes could matter in these races and have a big impact. host: i want to bring up some of the questions we are receiving on social media. this one is from mlb @ctyankee, who asks "what does the decline of local news --is it harder for you to compile your profiles?" is it harder? guest 3: it has become harder, certainly. the overall decline is bad for democracy, when you have national reporters who are trying to cover more localized issues and there is just not enough time or focus and everything -- not enough time to go around. i think it has become harder.

we try to go into the sources and find things end use non- -- and use nontraditional sources. there has been a movement in the states for more local, nonprofit journalism, trying to focus on the states, but what that has done to democracy overall is make it easier for people to go into their silos to find news that reinforces your perspective and does not question it. they decline of local news is a challenge we face as we are compiling the almanac. guest 1: i wanted to follow-up on what jessica mentioned. she started at the almanac as a researcher. the researchers are important. what they did in the early days of the almanac or even in my experience 2 or 3 decades ago,

we would have news clips printed out or a file with news clips for every member. there was a substantial number of news clips f local newspapersrom -- news clips from local newspapers from around the country. now there are fewer of those local news clips. that puts the burden on us as writers for the almanac to eke out other sources. they may not be as good or pedis in a different direction in terms of what we write, but we do the best we can. everything in the almanac is nonpartisan, and each of us takes a nonpartisan approach. that can be more challenging as the politics become more

partisan, but it is essential to what we do that we keep the almanac as a nonpartisan publication. host: lou, i went to go back to that desantis memo. "i thought that packs were not supposed to coordinate directly with the candidate. is this true?" guest 2: great question. that certainly is the law. my understanding is there is a tradition of super pac's leaving information up on the internet and not giving it to the campaign, but basically the campaign is stumbling upon it. i cannot say exactly what happened because i have done zero reporting on this particular incident, but there are sneaky ways you can get around that.

certainly i do think, in general that super pac's are not coordinating directly with candidates. we what hear about that if it were happening. host: one more quick one from social media. michael thornton asks "does the almanac contain information on who all of these candidates and politicians are accepting money from? that seems critical to understanding what they are about." guest 1: we include the total amount of money that each general election candidate spends and the amount of money that is spent by third-party groups in each campaign. we do not include everything because our 2000 page book would become a 4000 page book if we

included all of the other sources. we do what we can to give some sense of the finances of each campaign. guest 2: and also where this particular candidate or politician who is well known to have ties to a certain industry, that is fair game for us, mentioning that in the narrative write up that we do. host: next up is kenneth. kenneth is calling from michigan, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i know enough about the republicans, i could write a book about it, but what i would like the panel to discuss -- biden and his opponent to have a debate. it would be very interesting for everybody. host: do you mean biden into

someone who is running against him in the democratic primary or biden and the eventual republican nominee? caller: biden and his opponent in the democratic party. there are supposed to be democrats. i don't see anything going on about democrats. i would like to have some information. host:host: we know that there are two longshots. we have marianne williamson and robert kennedy junior, neither one of them is pulling anywhere near biden but will there be a primary -- polling anywhere near biden, but will there be a primary debate? guest 2: it doesn't seem there will be. for better or worse democrats seem to have decided that joe biden is there guy. that is typical for the incumbent president. it is fairly unusual to get a really fierce opponent for the incumbent president.

whether or not this is a smart decision in the long-term not to have a competitive primary remains to be seen. the track record historically for a sitting incumbent getting a primary, in the past they have gone on to lose the general election. it is not in the president's best interest to do that. we are in an unusual situation where joe biden's numbers are low as our donald trump's -- as are donald trump's as the front runner. the republican primary it is a bit of a crapshoot who will win in the general election when you're -- are voters going to come out and support, trump

and biden or will there be lower turnout because people are turned off by both candidates? it is too soon to tell, but it is a very unusual environment i would say right now. host: matthew, hannibal, new york, democratic line. caller: i don't know what polls you are, but biden is doing a bang up job. he is bringing jobs back to the united states. hooray for joe biden. my comment is this. the amount of people that are elected to the house is derived on defenses.

the same cannot be said for the senate. every state gets two senators. the same theory and logic would apply to the senate as it does to the house. you have these states were a couple million people live in them that have the same representation as florida or new york. i would like to see that change. it is to archaic. what do you think about that? host: there were lots of criticisms, particularly from conservative states that are less populous are having an outsized influence, particularly in the senate. is there any chance that could change? guest 2: it does seem to me that it is a real obstacle for the

democrats going forward. if you look at the presidential pattern in each of the 50 states, long-term those tend to align with what happeneds\ in the senate -- what happens in the senate. you will ca 55-37 split for the geo -- you will see a 55-37 split for the gop. there are so many states that like having that sort of outsized influence that it will be hugely difficult to get to that three quarters threshold. host: joe is calling from washington dc, republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning.

one of your guests made the point that open primaries are superior to closed primaries because people from outside the party can vote and have the chance to produce candidates that are more moderate. that was certainly not the case in 2020 when democrats flooded to the open primary states and voted for who they thought were the weakest candidates in the republican party, and that proved successful in the senate races. the same thing could happen in 2024 when people will vote in the republican primaries for, say, trump because they think he is the easiest to beat. i question whether open primaries are the best solution for the health of our democracy. host: jessica, how prevalent was that?

guest 3: it happened some, either side trying to boost a weaker candidate. it was a phenomenon in senate races. candidate quality was a major issue in 2022 with a lot of the senate nominees in georgia, arizona, and in pennsylvania and different things. we see a republican senate committee trying to take a more active role in boosting their favorites. you saw for instance in a congressional race in michigan, emma kratz get behind a more weaker candidate over peter meyer -- democrats get behind more weaker candidate over peter meyer. it has drawn cheers and jeers from both sides. "you are boosting an election

denier, and that is not a good thing to do." these are the tactics we see. there are pluses and minuses. if you are nonparty aligned, which is one of the fastest-growing voter blocks, you want your voice heard in that process, but then you have people from either side crossing over and voting in those primaries too. i think it is a function of how each state is set up, a candidate quality in senate races especially is something i am watching for 2024. host: let's go to wyoming now, margaret on the independent line. caller: i have a question. i would like to know if the exposing of the deep state corruption that is being done by house gop, and i am referring to

the fbi and the department of justice, is that in fact having any kind of a positive or negative impact on democratic and republican voters? that is my question. guest 1: good question. i think for now, at least, the republican effort to expose what they refer to as deep state influence or what other republicans referred to as the weaponization of the federal government, for now it is adding to the polarization that we see across politics. i don't think republicans are expecting many democrats to agree with them. this is an effort by republicans to appeal to their base and

democrats go their own way. host: we will leave it there. we have been speaking this morning with three of the lead co-authors of the almanac of american politics. thank you all for joining us this morning. we will take a quick break and return for open forum, so start calling in now. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . ♪ >> c-span's campaign 2024

coverage as your front row seat to the presidential election. watch meeting greets, speeches and events to make up your own mind. campaign 2024 on the c-span network, c-span now or anytime online at c-span.org. c-span, or unfiltered view of politics. ♪ >> sunday night on q and a in his book, university of richmond professor mussi looks at the seizure of three buildings in washington dc. hostages were taken at all three locations. >> it is amazing how this story has receded in the background

and we don't talk about it as much. this is the first time anyone has told this story. it has not been assembled by anyone. a lot of lives were lost, and no one has talked about it. the local court records were lost, including the transcript. i uncovered the transcript. it is thousands of pages, and it is every word spoken by every witness in the trial. it really helped me. that record really up to me piece together the sequence of events in washington those two days. >> professor mufti and his book "american caliph." ♪ >> a healthy democracy does not

just look like this. it looks like this, where americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed our democracy thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word from the nation's capital to wherever you are, because the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. ♪ >> during the 2022-2023 u.s. supreme court term, judges announced decisions on some of the most consequential oral argument cases. this week we will examine some of those cases regarding affirmative action,

antidiscrimination, and religious liberty. on monday we will look at the case of allen versus milligan involving alabama's congressional map and voting rights. the court ruled in favor of black voters saying alabama's redistricting map violates the voting rights act. watch key supreme court oral arguments at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and online at c-span.org. ♪ >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back to washington journal. it is time for open forum your chance to weigh in on any plitt topic of the day. the numbers are republicans, you dial (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . we will start with mark in ohio, democratic line. caller: hello? host: go ahead, mark. caller: i basically don't

understand in this country why the democrats and biden, they are working for the people, they believe in climate change, they want people to have voting rights and freedom, and the republicans are a party of hate. they are backing a criminal for president. it his common sense. all of these people are saying biden is not popular. he has done a wonderful job. he has tried very hard for everybody, republicans and democrats. there is no hate in his heart. he believes in god. trump doesn't, and a lot of people still follow him. that is my comment. host: let's go to stephen tucson, arizona, independent line. caller: just a general observation.

i find it almost amusing that the political person who loses an election and a political party who loses an election, they blame the other side, they blame the media, they blame nebulous, gray political groups for their defeat and they never look at the possibility that it might be there candidates and policies that caused them to lose. host: next caller, john, pounding mills virginia, republican line. caller: good morning. i just had two quick points. when your colors call in and say "when trump gets elected it will end democracy," i don't

understand. can you ask them to explain what that means? when he was president i didn't see democracy ending. i was just wondering in the georgia trials, if the trump lawyers would be allowed to introduce any clips from the documentary 2000 mules, which proved all of the shenanigans that went on in the election,, georgia turned out to be the worst -- and fulton county, georgia turned out to be the worst offender in terms of stuffing the ballot boxes. perhaps, a lawyer could call in and explain. host: maureen up next from winchester, new hampshire, democratic line. caller: good morning. i have a question if anyone can

answer it. i am concerned about green energy and solar power. how if any -- on the solar panels, are they stable during high winds? are they being destroyed? host: ok. let's hear from stephanie now in pennsylvania, independent. caller: hello. there was a big issue about whether we should be couple or

d-link from china. i think we need tode-link -- to de-link or decouple from every author terrien country -- authoritarian country. you don't see anyone risking their lives to get into russia or china. in fact they try to steal people to try and get them to come in their. what does that tell you about authoritarianism? authoritarianism is exactly what trump stands for. he wants to be an authoritarian. once he gets into office, he will never get out. that guy who just called and said give me some proof? the proofnot want to leave. that is why he caused all that hullabaloo with the riots. one last thing.

independents make up 40% of the electorate. democrats make up 20% and republicans make up 20%. independents should get double the number of calls, yet you have two republicans and two democrats before me, who is an independent. it is going the exact opposite of what i think. host: we got your point. just to clarify, we take calls as they come. we try our best to switch it up between republican, democrat, and independent but we can only do as much for -- as much for its the calls that come in. jerry, miami, republican line. caller: i am a moderate

republican and i have a suggestion for our democratic friends on how they can embarrass republicans in the next election. that would be to agree to bring forth the hunter biden and joe biden accusations to a bipartisan committee. with a 1026 form from the fbi, not redacted. the information on the 150 bank statements, and then they have a chance to embarrass republicans by proving it false. then they might win the election over this. host: all right. ettle from jacksonville, florida on the democratic line. caller: yes, ma'am. i was trying to text on the last segment when you have the guest. i need someone to tell me why

the state court -- host: go ahead. caller: i need someone to tell me the supreme court out of alabama created another district but yet failed to do that. i don't hear anyone talking about that. that is a great concern. i will listen to your answer. maybe one of your callers will tommy about it. host: jeanette in missouri, democratic line. caller: i just wanted to warn teachers in missouri that's our government in jefferson city punishes teachers -- in missouri that our government in jefferson city punishes teachers by

keeping all their social security. there are 13 places that do that and missouri is one. i taught all my life. my husband worked all his life at another job and never taught. he worked for a private company. when he passes away, missouri will take two thirds of all his social security away from me and my family. i will get one third of 40 years of his work. that's is a federal law but each state has the right to enact it or not. of course, missouri decides to punish the teachers in this way. whenever a teacher works in the summer for -- for any other kind of job, and never get the social

security back. a third maybe if they are lucky. i just screamed from the mountain tops, do not teach in missouri. unless you marry another teacher. but if you fall in love with a mechanic or blue-collar or white-collar, when that marriage partner dies, missouri will take two-thirds of their well, honestly earned social security. why can't missouri teachers have that for their families? host: we appreciate your call this morning. pennsylvania. william calling on the republican line. caller: how can you get trumped for an insurrection when the fbi said it was not an insurrection.

the fbi were there, setting everything up. we have all the video teams from january 6. you are trying to charge him. all the evidence from the january 6 committees that you guys were televising all day, everyday day, for how many months -- all the evidence and stuff is gone. nobody finds this convenient? and you are convicting him over a phone call? when joe biden is on a phone call saying, if you do not fire the guy investigating my kid, you will not get the money? come on. host: and defendant line, next -- independent line, next. washington, d.c. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to comment on the

indictments. donald trump is facing 91 charges -- 91 counts which seem to be federal and eight. i am very surprised that most defendants and federal defendants do not get the luxury of donald trump, being free, out on bail. and disparaging people constantly. i don't understand why the court cannot gag order this man? he has no right to be disparaging court judges and jurors constantly. there has to be something that needs to be done. i am hoping he gets a gag order. enough of the red carpets. he is no longer a president. he committed numerous egregious acts. i am hoping the federal court says something about this. thank you. host: on the democratic line,

wesley in maryland. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. what i want to talk about is abortion. when god created the first woman -- man, that was his only child he created. so when people say god created these children, he did not. they did not even understand the bible. man and women created the children. they do have the right to abort those if they choose. it is not anybody else's right to take these liberties. all these people talking about

abortion is wrong, it is not. it is not. it is another thing i have to say. god wants these people that -- [indiscernible], so she can forgive them. back then, there were best friends and prayed every night to end the civil or. when they end of the civil war, they blamed god. it was not his fault they lost the war. they lost the war because they could not outmaneuver the north. host: we are going to have to leave it there. ohio, jonathan on the republican line. caller: yes.

i am a republican. if the republican party nominates donald trump, i will vote for joe biden. donald trump is a crook. people have died from his lies. if the republican party nominates him, i will vote for joe biden. host: dewayne, westbrook, maine, independent line. caller: i have been watching c-span since the early 80's when brian lam was there. i have to echo the sentiment of the pennsylvania carter -- pennsylvania caller. more americans identify as independents. starting the show with a question about foreign policy. both parties supported u.s. imperialism.

we need to have parties in this country. we need to have representation. it does not represent the establishment of washington which was where brick capture. you do not give a voice to -- americans in this country are supposed to be a democracy but you only focus on team read and blue. there are both corporate co-opted. you have joe biden who is corrupt and has been in office for for years. we thought donald trump was corrupt. need to represent all the program the same establishment voices and the same corporate media. the washington post, the new york times. you need to focus more on social media.

since 2000, social media has exploded in terms of influence and reach. they are really where you will find what the american people think. c-span is ignoring. there was a change back in 1982. but c-span has not. you are not reaching the american people. you promote this day after day. host: we got your point. appreciate your call this morning. let's go to maria in atlanta, georgia on the democratic line. caller: good morning. i am a faithful listener for 30 years, first thing in the morning, 7:00, washington journal. my number one news station is c-span. i have been noticing lately, brian lam set up a little bit,

with more people of color and host. a sister and i were talking, what is going on with c-span? we were just wondering, what is going on? we see a little more people of color as hosts and panels. i want to stay listener for 30 more years. i love you guys. host: appreciate your comments today. that's go to deandre in maryland, republican line. caller: good morning, c-span and america. thank you for having me. i am 27. i don't know it all. but i have good capability to think and see through fallacies and manufacture crises. another thing to point out -- 2012, house resolution dismiss

modernization act removed the ban on propaganda in corporate news mainstream media, domestic and international. since 2012, 90 8% -- 98% is lies and smoke springs -- screens to have us confused and not see what is going on which is happening in our faces. there are over 2000 suspicious activity reports filed by the doj. there should be people going back to at least the obama administration who also needs to be held for treason. from what i have been hearing since it started, our country is heading to hell in a hand basket. if america falls, the entire world falls.

we need to pick up the pace. host: eileen is our next caller, st. petersburg, florida, democrat line. caller: i would like to make a comparison and a comment about ron desantis, my governor, and donald trump. donald trump is the worst human that has ever been president. but i have to warn everybody that ron desantis with -- would be a worse candidate. i have lived in florida for over 70 years of my life. the way he is attacking our days and our teachers. if joe biden does not win and either donald trump or ron desantis winds, we are doomed. whether or not you like joe biden or his policies, please do

not support ron desantis or donald trump. host: next, republican line. kyle from rochester, new york. caller: i do not normally call. i usually just watch. but there was a comment made around 20 to 30 minutes ago that the senate should go by population like the house of representatives. i would like to push back. the whole point of having two senators from each state, when the constitution was written, over 200 years ago was to make sure everyone was represented. it is working just as intended to not leave anyone's opinion out. i just wanted to comment because that is the one that bugs me. but that is ok. i think you do great work and i appreciate everything sees as

does -- everything c-span does. host: when we come back, our weekly spotlight on podcasts. we will meet the cohosts of the fulcrum "vital signs of democracy" podcast, debilyn molineaux and david riordan. ♪ announcer: listening to programs on c-span span radio just got easier. tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio and listen to washington journal daily and important congressional events throughout the day. catch washington today for a fast-paced report of the stories of the day. listen to c-span anytime. tell your smart speaker, "play c-span radio."

c-span, powered by cable. announcer: during the 2022-2023 u.s. supreme court turn, they had some of the most consequential oral argument cases. this week, we examine some cases involving voting rights, affirmative action, anti-religious discrimination, executive power and more. monday, we look at the case allen versus milliken. the court ruled in favor of black voters, saying alabama's redistricted map violates regulations. starting august 21 at 9:00 p.m. eastern . ♪ announcer: this fall, watch

c-span's new series, "books that shaped america." join us on a captivating journey and partnership with the library of congress to explore key works of literature for -- from american history. he books that provoke thoughts, won awards and are still important today. virtual journeys to significant locations across the country, and trickett tied to the celebrated authors and their unforgettable books. among our books, common sense by thomas payne, huckleberry finn, the eyes were watching god, and free to choose by milton and rose friedman. books to shape -- books that shaped america starting monday on c-span, c-span now our free mobile video app, or online at

c-span.org. announcer: a healthy democracy does not just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed, a republican thrives. informed straight from the source, on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. host: we are back with the fulcrums, debilyn molineaux and david riordan. they will be discussing their podcasts, "vital signs of democracy," and political news of the day. good morning. guest: guest: good morning.

good to be here. host: debilyn molineaux, tell us about the fulcrum of which you are a copublisher. its mission and how it started. guest: it was founded in 2019-ish by folks who wanted to get news of the democracy reform around the country. there was not a lot of news about democracy itself so the furum became the gathering point. and we took over in 2021, we expanded coverage to include democracy or how democracy activities and opinions. where we could come together to inform, interact and engage in democracy. host: tell us about the podcast. why did you decide to launch "vital signs of democracy," and

why now? guest: david came to us with this idea about the podcast and noticed we had rating systems for a lot of elements that we want to get a quick glance on. like if we do not want to dive into the detail, what is the quick glance? developed this idea of "vital signs of democracy" to scan the news and see if it was taking us closer or away from democracy. that is where the meter came from. the podcast came because we wanted to give people something to do. if we can provide people with ways to think about the news as they are observing and taking in the news, and then provide them a way to perform their citizen duties in healthy weight, that is what the podcast is about. host: david, you have a background in entertainment. how did you become involved with the website and podcast?

what is your role? guest 2: "vital signs" is about the power of stories. i came out of the entertainment business with a long career in that. when we look at the future at certain point, they mostly seem to be dystopian. there was not much positive. so we started to look at the news, collect, and analyze healthy stories. there are two ways humans make sense of things. the data and information. and then subjective stories we make up to get the data to make meaning to us. we were interested in the subjective stories driving the political environment. at this point, i think it is fair to say, we have two major "make america great" narratives

and that seems to be driving things more than people looking at facts. host: david, how do you decide on topics for your podcast? guest 2: debilyn molineaux and i look across 10 categories and create the measurements that go to vital signs of democracy.com every two weeks. there are things we have seen that are not necessarily making it to the mainstream yet but we think are important. each of us will pick one of those that is of interest to us. then we go at that and try to see what is really happening with that particular story. host: we are talking with the host of the "vital signs of democracy" podcast. if you have a question about their podcast or political news

of the day, we want you to start calling in. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. start calling in now. we will get to yo's calls in a moment -- to those calls in a moment. debilyn molineaux, your inaugural podcast was back in february and focused on the make america great again story that david just mentioned, competing for our attention. tell me more about this big project on the two "make america great" narratives and how this sets the tone for the podcast overall. guest: the way we framed the two make america great again or a -- make america great stories, and

really that was the way david framed it, was the culture war writ large but in a different frame. one where we may be able to take a step back and observe more about the stories we are hearing instead of being inside. a lot of the podcast is about helping observe the stories coming to us from the media instead of being captured but -- captivated by the stories themselves and creating an enemy of people in the other story. we are one america and it is not like divorce is really possible. host: david, in your most recent episode, you point out that 75% of maga republicans still believe the 2020 election was stolen. what percentage of republicans are considered maga and how do

they feel about a second term for donald trump? guest: we do look at numbers and polls and that what we look at stories being told. i will be very general about this because our experts better at this than me. the maga part of the audience is generally 30% to 35%. and then you have moderate republicans. it's not forget the monarch -- the maga republicans make the most noise so they get her the most. but even moderate republicans still voted for him in the last election even with some things they did not agree with. you have republicans and democrats, and then a huge group in the middle that is independent. that is what we are. i am not crazy about either the republicans or democrats for any

particular reason. we are really making the difference in swing states about which way they will lean. host: let's go to phone lines. a reminder. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also send a text message to (202) 748-8003. zachary in florida, independent line. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, -- caller: hello. i am a marine. let's start with that. as a squad leader and section chief, you are always looking out for people. i believe you are a leader of this country, whether you are a publication or democrat, that your first priority should be for the country. if i measure those things, when

i look at donald trump and joe biden, joe biden has done a better job. when i look at the media and these podcast -- i listen to them regularly and i have listened regularly to c-span for years. i am concerned about the media presenting false narratives to all constituents. that is a ro problem. not all the media. i will not call names but we know who they are. the conservative media seems to be crazy. i neighbors do not speak to me anymore. i live in a quiet neighborhood of the people did not speak anymore. my question is, is the media not causing a lot of these concerns we are having? host: debilyn molineaux? guest: first, thank you to your service and amen to the leadership we need right now. there is a book out there called

-- i forget the name of the book off the top of my head. it is by amanda ripley. most of the media is not news coverage but conflict profiteering. i want to point out there is a distinction between true journalism and conflict profiteering. because those who mask as media are actually fomenting outrage. we need to show what they are. and find a way to mitigate or make them irrelevant in my opinion. host: it looks like the name of the book is "high conflict." let's go to another caller. brian in minnesota, independent line. caller: good morning. first and foremost, i want to give a huge shout out to seize and -- c-span.

for like 20 years, you have been giving information to me and a lot of people before that. thank you. the question i have for the guests today, i am wondering what they think about the july 26 during. i am wondering what they think that issue might have to say about the health of that democracy being all the bipartisan especially in that long. . thank you guys so much. host: that is a hearing onuap 's. is there anything you think we can draw about politics from that echo guest 2: -- from that? guest 2: we look at that and ask, what could change things? the ufo story has been around

for some time. you think, if there is some hints there is life off the planet, this changes every angle. if we are talking about the political environment today, and that is important. if this ever happens, this would significantly change humanity. i will not predict how this will go. i am happy to see the u.s. story is getting drawn from the fringes and into the mainstream because there is a lot to talk about. we are tracking this very heavily because there is one of those potential changes that could make a difference to everything. host: orlando, washington, d.c., democrat line. caller: i have a question and a comment. is it possible -- you said it yourself that independents are

making a difference. i think that is what you said. is it possible that independents , along with trump supporters, are also putting more favor toward donald trump by not voting for democrats? you said they are making a difference but are they making a difference when the vote is actually swinging to the right? if the independents are making a positive impact or if your vote is making a negative impact? you understand what i am trying to say? host: i think so. let's let debilyn molineaux way in. guest: i will reframe the question to say, how can independents make the most healthy toys in their voting patterns? especially in a swing state. independents make of a larger

percentage of registered voters than democrats or republicans. the last i heard was around 42%. people in the 18 to 30 four-year-old category make of a higher percentage of independents than not because they see the dysfunction within political parties. independent voters are being courted by both mainstream narratives david and i cover in the podcast to either make america great by the maga republicans story or the make america great which is the pluralistic multiracial democracy. those are the two narratives the independents are choosing between. a fascinating piece to look at from a narrative standpoint is, how could independents organize themselves to actually create a

third story? along those same lines -- host: that you want to say something, david? guest 2: and what we are seeing when we talk about independence as we start this election season is there are independent efforts. they are well-funded and are considering offering a different choice if it ends up being donald trump and biting as the two major characters. how this will affect the 2024 election just throws more questions and make this -- makes this more unstable of how this might work out if none of the candidates get a majority of the vote. then what do we do? that is something to really watch as we head into the 2024 election. what is going to be the

influence of the candidates? host: along those same lines when it comes to let's polarize politics is the issue of gerrymandering. we had a previous caller who said he would like a discussion on the alabama redistricting case. have you guys looked at alabama or redistricting as a whole? alabama was supposed to have a new map that was less gerrymandered and would have black voters be able to elect a second member of congress but state leaders chose not to adhere to those guidelines in the revised map. debilyn molineaux? guest: i actually think david is better suited to answer this question because he has been looking at this when states ignore the law. guest 2: i will pick on the maga

republicans. i am an independent. this is the republican party attempting to do something about how the districts are laid out. normally, in the past, when a party continue to lose elections, they would then try to expand their base. if you want to look at the right, you can look at ronald reagan as he expanded his base hugely to include people of color and women. in this case, from a narrative standpoint, it seemed to be "vital signs of democracy -- seemed the maga republicans had given up on trying to attract voters. so then you need to attract votes to win as a minority in the electoral college. what is going on in alabama in addition to gerrymandering is the fact the supreme court, it

is conservative by any means, as already said there needs to be two districts. and the state of alabama said, we are not going to do that. this is something indicating where we might be going. when you have states saying, they are looking at the federal opinion and saying, we are not going to listen to that. host: mike from stockton, california on the independent line. caller: i just wanted to make a couple statements. [indiscernible] i noticed, a lot of times a son will make a statement to his father like, "see, dad, you

don't have to yell at a fellow." [indiscernible] it is sort of like a psychosis or something. donald trump. my brother cause him agent orange. and i called rudy giuliani the melting man. we are going through a really dark chapter. all the false exaggerations. i just almost want to give up. i am glad the polls are coming out, showing only 14% of republicans are believing this now. it needs to get down to just

around 0%. donald trump needs to go to prison and get it over with. he knew he was lying in the election was not stolen. host: we got your point. let's let debilyn molineaux respond to some of your points. guest: thank you for calling. you obviously have not given up yet or you would not be calling. i have a lot of friends who are resigned and have given up. what this actually does is, when we citizens delegate our power and we are still active, it concentrates that power in the hands of a few. to the extent that we can find a way to get off our couches and go find others who think like we do, that citizens need to be the center of the government, instead of the manipulated consumer of politics, is where our power lies.

people would not focus on the outrage and others would not focus on suppressing votes if it did not matter. they would ignore us if it did not matter. i sound a little evangelical about citizenship and voting right now because i am. i can hear you care deeply and are disappointed. find colleagues who think like you do and bolster each other up. host: let's go to international falls, minnesota. brad on the republican line. caller: good morning. i have a couple quick questions. the first one is, why didn't jack smith use all of donald trump's words about whatever? in his indictment, he never said that donald trump said to go there peacefully and patriotically. the second question is, if 20

show companies doing no business is not a proof -- shell companies doing business is not proof of corruption, what is? host: david? guest 2: i certainly understand the perspective. the thing we have to look at from a story standpoint as there are lots of stories in the environment. when we say, these are things donald trump said or did not say, there is a plethora of things he has said and continues to say. it is easy to cherry pick the comments and find the ones that support your doing about him one way or another. i think what will happen with jack smith is we will move out of this political environment where everyone can say anything they want, and it just seems crazy from day-to-day, and we

will actually go into court. jack smith will have to prove that whatever donald trump said that he feels is criminal behavior. in teen that point, all the conversations we have -- at that point, all the conversations we have outside the court system will fall one way or another. they will incriminate him or they will not. host: i want to ask a question we are getting on social media. i have some articles that are relevant. there is an article on the hill that says "biden ally rust off calls for primary debate." it is about how president biden is not being advised that he should debate longshot challenger. what we has an article that says

"donald trump rolls out attending debate." saying ronald reagan did not do it. it is about the fact donald trump may not debate the other republican nominees, vying for that in 2024. i want to pull of a. it is from ny -- myland. is donald trump refusing to debate ron desantis and chris christie good for democracy? that is the question i wanted to ask. david, i will start with you. guest 2: when we look at this question of debates, it is an american tradition that candace would show up on a stage and we get -- that candidates with soap on stage and we get to listen to them and to others.

i think this is a sign of the times as we move into the 2024 election. when we go back to 2020, once president biden was selected to be their candidate and donald trump was selected, the choice was clear. we also democracy was on the ballot, which i think it was. as a result, joe biden won the election. when we look into 2024 and you have 70% of the voters in polls -- and we have to know this is just one perspective, they say they do not like either one of them. we saw this with 2016 with donald trump in hillary clinton. it is like the worst of two choices. at the moment, joe biden's stomach -- dominating the democratic side.

you do not open that can of worms and let people talk to your policy. i do not think this does a service -- i think this is a disservice on both sides. if you are not willing to meet dust to show up and meet the current challenges, are very different from 2020, and help clear the murkiness we feel about this particular election going forward all our fears about it, that is a sign democracy has weekend. i would encourage both parties and independents to show up and debate each other. let the voters decide what they want. host: debilyn molineaux? guest: david is so right in that joe biden and trump only have things to lose. the politics and history is the one who makes those decisions and says -- the politics industry is the one who makes

those decisions and says you do not create an opening for vulnerability. this underpins everything we are talking about today. it also thwarts any new ideas from emerging or any new coalitions from forming because the system has already been ranked say we are just going to focus on people who already have the power. that is part of why, as citizens, we all need to get more active in the political system and election system and think about voting and redistricting and other mechanisms. it actually provides us with more opportunity. host: dennis, new jersey, democrat line. caller: how are you doing? i had a question by think i will change it since i was listening to things that were said.

democracy, a large part is based on our fate in the system. if we lose that, i am afraid of things. but i think my fate is still in the people and i will give an example. when i have served on juries, i have found a majority of the people i was serving with -- it did not matter whether you were republican or democrat or whatever your political views were. everyone saw it as a sacred duty. when you went in, you became a blank slate. and you listened to what was happening. that is where my fate lies. i hope that continues. host: debilyn molineaux, why do things seem to be so much more polarized? guest: i will go back to the profit -- conflict profiteers.

starting with talk radio back in the 1980's, this was a way for folks to make money off expressing opinions that seemed unpopular by the mainstream. as they continue to propagate, they became more and more popular. now, the conflict profiteers narratives and stories david and i are following in our podcast has become the major narrative. instead of it being like a crazy uncle in the corner talking or our crazy aunt in the other corner talking, that has now become the public narrative about democracy. democracy is actually a really messy process and is how we as a people decide and make decisions about our future. the conflict profiteers have captured us in a way that we do

not participate in this way. guest 2: can i add something? the whole issue of polarization -- and we look at this from a narrative standpoint. there are two narratives competing with each other and we do not seem to listen to each other as we used to. there is one sign of hope. the caller's notion warmed my heart in the sense that we all have to keep the faith that the system will somehow onto these challenges. here is the sign of hope. if you look at national polls -- and we look at 10 categories that you think will force -- will affect democracy. like women's right to choose, the independence of the justice system, and all those things what impact democracy one way or another. if you look at the national polls on the subjects, you have

55 percent to 70% of america that is made up of moderate republicans and democrats that agree. they agree voting ought to be easy. they agree a woman ought to have the right to choose in this culture. they agree the justice department should be going after people in a way that the legal system is forthright and transparent. you look at this and say it is 55% to 70% of america, so what is the polarization? part of that is social media. another part is neither side of parties have an interest in hauling that group to the front of america or do not know how. when we look at that group, if

someone can figure out a narrative that will attract that group -- and the majority of americans stand up and extremes back to where they belong on the edge of the conversation, then our democracy may have a chance to strengthen itself. guest: the policies have actually catered to the more extreme viewpoint because of the way our primary system works. one of the things we need to look at his house do we conduct our primaries? that is when the extreme voters show up. whoever wins the primary wins the election. host: ed on the independent line. caller: a solution to our political problems in the country is to have a god and country party comprised of military veterans.

there is only 17 veterans in the senate, and only 47 in congress. our hope for the future is in the hands of the veterans. it is the soldier, not the minister, who has given us freedom of religion. it is the soldier, not the reporter, wes given us freedom of press. it is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. it is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom of protest. host: we got your point. david, what do you think about his thoughts about putting soldiers in charge of american politics -- or veterans? guest 2: it goes right to the heart of, do we need something

else other than the binary choice we have? whether you count your story as a veterans party or god party, what we are seeing in the 55% to 70% of americans we talked about before is the question is not republican or democrat. the question is, are we americans and what does this mean? we have fought with each other forever between conservative and liberal opinions about what we should do going forward but it was within certain guardrails. we have now blown through them so the conversation seems much more extreme at the main center. i understand the caller's frustration. i feel it every day. isn't there something else we can do them the choice we have now? i think we will see these independent efforts in the 2024 alexa will gain traction and have an influence. host: christine, rhode island,

democrat line. caller: good morning. thank you for your service. it is very educational. i hope someone learns about what you are talking about. i will not talk about democrat or republican. i will talk about the usa i totally agree with but that man said from florida. -- with what that man said from florida. i believe the military and veterans pay their dues. they are trying to keep our country safe. but when you have a person running around the country and using propaganda -- i watched it all the way. even watching the second impeachment, if they wanted to know any more information, they would have continued with the hearing.

they all took an oath on the bible. if they do not -- at a time like this, i cannot see democrats and republicans attacking each other. right now, the united states needs to be together. this was all vladimir putin's plan from 2017, they stood out there and said it was like bombs dropping and where stance tempora 11. let's tone it down. listen, think. host: all right. we got your point. guest: i love what you are saying and i hear the passion. i wonder if you wanted to look up an organization called li

vingroomconversations.org. this is a way to talk with family members and friends in a way that is not heated. it helps us see people's stories and how they developed their belief. i just had a sense when you were talking that that might be something you would want to do to help get to know people in a different way. we have had some churches who used this. i cofounded this organization, for 36 sake. there were people in the church that did a living room conversation and came away from the first conversation saying i found out something about this person i know for 30 years and i feel like i know the much deeper now. i did not know i did not know them. it is something citizens can do. host: republican line. bob from seattle, washington.

caller: hello, everybody. i am sitting and watching c-span. about a boxer see and about -- democracy and voting. i look at the state of washington and how secure voting is by mail-in ballot. and the ease of voting. how is it that we only have 11 states in the union that a vote by mail? and why that does not get more accelerated? i come from the printing industry. i am surrounded by what happens with the ballots. the printers that print those.

the ease in which it is to vote. what is it that you think is suppression by the far right to not want to have vote by mail throughout the united yet -- united states? and the narrative by donald trump that talks about this in a negative way. you saw -- back off his appointment to that and say, this guys going down the wrong path. the mail has to move in a certain way. host: thank you for the call. a quick response? guest: this is part of the politics industry making it so their candidates can win. if they cannot win by drawing their face, they will win by changing their roaster they have all the power. host: david, any quick final thoughts? debilyn molineaux the story made

--guest 2: the story may be changing. on the maga republican side, there has been a story where they only trust the votes that have taken place on the day of the election at a polling place. they do not trust mail in ballots because they consider them to be more of a liberal vote. given the fact donald trump lost in 2020, and the 2022 election did not turn out for them, we are starting to see the narrative change. the idea of voting by mail or making it easier to votes in addition to what you do on the day of will get more support from the republican side because they have been losing, attempting to try to suppress that vote and depending on people showing up on the day of. it has not worked out well for them. host: we have been talking this

morning with the cohosts of the fulcrum podcast "vital signs of democracy.". debilyn molineaux and david riordan. thank you. that is all. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m.. ♪