to help our country move forward? guest: the good news about the 14th amendment is you do not need to re-pass it, it already exists. you just need the supreme court to say the 14th amendment says naturalized citizens have equal rights. you learn in civics class you have to be a natural born citizen to be president but you also learned pluto was a planet. that is not written in stone pit that was in a textbook. what really matters is what is in the constitution and what the supreme court says is in the constitution. all they have to do is acknowledge the 14th amendment. you do not need a new amendment. the second part of the question was how i love america but am being a spoiler. wait a minute. if you are a right winger, donald trump was a spoiler.

they said jeb bush was the presumptive candidate. how dare you be a spoiler? if you were a democrat, in 2008, hillary clinton was the presumptive candidate and barack obama was the spoiler. how dare he be a spoiler? oh, that is right, there is no one anointed. we do not live in a monarchy. we live in a democracy where the party gets together in primaries and go, who would be the best candidate and represent us the best? that is what primaries are for. that is why i am in this primary. help us win the primary because i'm actually going to fight for you. who wins in washington 98% of the time is about their ego. if i do not pass those bills if i am the president, i am a failure and you should roll me out. -- throw me out. we have to get you higher wages and lower drug prices and get paid family leave so moms can take off 12 weeks when they have a baby. if we do not deliver on those

things for you, we have done nothing at all. who cares about the status they covet so much. vote for a guy who will actually represent you for the first time in your life. host: that is all the time we have. thank you very much, cenk uygur, democratic candidate for president and the founder and host of "young turks." thank you so much. that is all we have today for "washington journal." thank you for your calls and time this morning. please stay tuned tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. we will have another edition of "washington journal." ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

s as his path to victory. "washington journal" starts now. ♪ host: good morning. it is sunday, november 26, 2023. saturday, russia launched what ukrainian officials say was the largest drone attack against the capital since the start of the war. u.s. aid for ukraine remain stalled in congress, with republicans tying any potential aid to border security in america. we want to hear from you on immigration. what is your message to washington on immigration and border reform? we are taking your calls at (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans.

(202) 748-8002 -- you can also reach us on social media. we are @cspanwj and facebook.com/cspan. i wanted to give you more information about that drone attack saturday morning. here's the story from the washington post with more information. fierce drone swarm shatters the column in ukraine's's capital and ukraine's military said air to for -- air defenses destroyed 74 of 75 drones during a six-hour attack that included dozens of weapons aimed at kyiv in with the city mayor said was the largest drone attack since russia's invasion in february 2022. in all of the pilotless craft were intercepted, although falling debris struck a

kindergarten and injured five people, including an 11-year-old child. here in the united states, the debate has been raging in congress. republican congressman mike mccall of texas in a recent homeland security committee hearing had harsh words for homeland security secretary alejandra mayorkas's handling of the u.s. border. here is a portion. >> there was an austin swat officer killed in my hometown who was on the terror watch list. the swat officer murdered by someone on the terror watch list and the family involved -- do you have any information about this? >> mr. chairman, we would be pleased to provide you with whatever information we have. >> please do.

whoever commits an offense against the united states or aids and abets, induces, or procures is punishable as the principal. human trafficking, a criminal enterprise in this country now with people with no legal status , and entire population seven times over to be killed by fentanyl, 12 billion total, 300,000 people dead due to fentanyl, i would argue that you have been aiding and abetting the deaths and kernel enterprise that has occurred in this nation. host: that accusation drew a swift response and rebuke from fellow homeland security democrat stan goldman. >> i think it is credibly dangerous to accuse secretary mayorkas of aiding and abetting

crimes. as you know can you need to have the intent to do that, and it is clear that whether you disagree or not with sec. mayorkas's approach to dealing with the border, to accuse him of aiding and abetting crime is very serious and is, i think, unwarranted in this situation. >> i live in a border state you do not. i have dealt with this issue for 25 years. i have never seen it this bad. it is his dereliction of duty that has created this problem in the united states. 7 million people. how are we going to deal with that? no legal status, human trafficking, fentanyl. we will disagree on this one, but i have to say that the change in policy has created

this problem. if you knows better -- he was a u.s. attorney in los angeles, like you were. he knows better. host: let's start to take your calls. let's start with jim in hawaii, a border state resident. caller: i want to put my magic word on the problem. that is why. i would like for all the callers to call in and tell me why the borders are open. somebody is backing that. i cannot figure out who it is. is it labor that opens borders for all the workers that come in? is it because the birth rate is down in united states so that is the correction of replacing low birthrate? why is the border open? it is harmful for all the low income people whose housing has

to be for these people who are coming in and i do not understand why. host: what is your message to washington? what are you hoping congress will do? caller: i would like to see a shutdown and limited -- i grew up with all the mexicans in mexico, but i did not see that many of them all coming over at one time and they are going to end up on the street. we are paying more for them than we are our own veterans. host: thank you. the white house has included in its $105 billion supplemental a request funding for israel and ukraine and taiwan and did include elements of border security and the request for funding, including $13.6 billion for border security and border

communities in the southwest, 1300 border patrol agents and funding for more than 100 inspection machines to detect fentanyl and an additional 1000 law enforcement professionals. 1600 additional asylum officers, 375 new immigration judges. that came from thehill.com. we have this story from the associated press about what republicans are hoping to do in terms of border security. senate republicans have outlined their measures that they see as a condition for eating ukraine. this is a story from early this month on november 6. they released a set of security proposals, including these plans to resume construction on parts of the u.s.-mexico border wall, for humanitarian parole for

people who crossed into the united states and make it more difficult for migrants to qualify for asylum. mitch mcconnell at that point had not said whether he supported the proposal that came from lindsey graham of south carolina and jim lankford of oklahoma. here is more detail on the security proposal, which would resume construction of the border wall, increase pay for border patrol agents, reform asylum laws, and crackdown on humanitarian parole of illegal migrants. let's hear from william on our republican line, calling from pleasant valley, new york. caller: i am calling -- the congress and became indignant

that mayorkas was accused of being complicit, if you will, with the border problem, and i do not know why he would not be considered complicit in that he is not doing anything to stem the flow of the illegal immigrants coming across the border. if he is taking actions that are not having any result, meaningful result, then he is complicit. he apparently for some reason does not see a problem with having millions, and it is millions, of immigrants come across that border who, not long after they are here, we no longer know where they are. we do not even know who they are. so i think mayorkas has criminal complacency and the problem and i do not know how people do not see it.

but that is just one man's opinion. i thank you for listening. host: next we have juliet in massachusetts on our independent line. caller: i think that congressman is spot on in his proclamation. it is a dereliction of duty that all hundred mayorkas -- alejandra mayorkas's with open arms excepting the entire world practically. this is hyperbolic, but i would like to juxtapose a story on the front page of the new york times concerning finland and there border policy. russia apparently is being accused by finland of forcing many different communities from around africa and east asia to enter over the border and they are being flooded, so what finland has done is close --

they have five open border ports. four of them have been shut down completely. the only one left open is by way of entering through the arctic. people just cannot endure those temperatures, so i would like to have one of your comrades bring up that article because it is pertinent and maybe we should be looking at something maybe not esther kony and but something has to be done because in finland they only take -- host: i am looking at the front page of the new york times and not seen the article you are referencing. are you talking about the front page of the paper or the website? caller: i always check the headlines the night before. it may be in the wall street journal because i look at both papers because i like to read different perspectives. in any event, let me make my last point. finland by there border policy on migration, if they only allow

two people in a day, they are vetted. very come principally. there are 800 coming a day. this is in retaliation by russia that is bringing them by bus to the border and they are just closing it down, so why is it that our policy is just an open door policy? we want people to come over and we want them to come legally. but we cannot have this mass migration. look at new york city. you have eric adams. you have my state of massachusetts. my governor declared about a month ago a state of emergency. host: let me just -- i was able to find an article from nbc news with a bit more information on what i am guessing your reference is. it said finland has closed passenger border crossings with russia and moscow is funneling

migrants to the border, it charge the kremlin has denied. finland temporarily closed all but one of its eight passenger crossings to russia in response to unusually high inflow migrants. more than 700 migrants from nations such as afghanistan, pakistan, and syria have in the past couple weeks it -- entered finland. helsinki says russia is funneling migrants to the border. is that what you are referencing? caller: exactly. the article was from the ap. the ap -- it could have been reuters. it was reuters. reuters is the preeminent news purveyor and then the wall street journal picks up on those headlines and elaborates in their own fashion. but i thought it was quite striking. when i did cross-reference other articles, to get to from perspectives, nbc came up and a

few others. these are people who -- i am not sure how they end up in russia. they are probably coming in from the southern border down by georgia and because asked on -- kazakhstan, azerbaijan. there is work going down there as well so they are migrating out of that zone into russia in the hopes of getting into finland. finland is a country along with other nordic countries that are basically -- i do not want is say socialist countries, but they do not have a lot of money to go around. these people are given by law -- if you come here with a family, by law they have to be put in a shelter. my governor, they opened the convention center and they are housing migrants who would otherwise be out in the cold. they are allowed in in the nighttime to sleep and then

forced out in the morning, back out on the streets. host: what is your message to congress? what are you hoping they will do? caller: i would hope that -- it is a conundrum. it is really a problem that no one -- the cause -- they need cheap labor because it is a lot of wage pressure on companies now because of the shortage of workers. host: i want to get to a couple more callers, but thank you so much. let's hear from ipswich, massachusetts. caller: i would like to say -- host: you are the democrat line. caller: thank you. donald trump building the wall against a race of people, the hispanics, is really a situation that cannot be accepted in the world today. we do not need that kind of

global racism. this is the land of god in heaven and our jesus. it is the land of opportunity for all people. at all times. this cannot happen in any day of life. i believe that if we are going to -- to be the people that we say we are in this country then we have to prove it. that is what i wanted to say. it is short, but i believe this is the land of opportunity for everybody and i hope everybody has a wonderful day. >> we have a couple comments on social media. john says, finish the wall. people must apply in their own country or not be allowed in. here ianother comment from

ohio. the border needs to be closed until they can take care of all of the illegals already here. we cannot take in everyone. it is not sustainable. williams of taxpayer money, child traffickers, fentanyl, and likelyerrorists. the open border is insanity. i do not believe may arcus -- may arcus -- mayorkas is following the laws on the books. caller: i am in arizona. happy thanksgiving. what is the end game for joe and the democrats to let the illegals in? i am for legal immigration but these people are breaking the law by jumping the line and we

have 1.5 -- i think it is 1.7 million got aways, someone who does not want to be caught and is not exactly the outstanding person you think he or she is. that and our hospital down here is overwhelmed. if i want to have something done, i have to go to phoenix or san diego because they cannot provide for me because there's is no room in the inn. host: has that happened, where you were seeking medical care and were unable to get it because of micros in the hospital? -- migrants in the hospital? caller: yes. i broke my rib. i did finally get in, but it took me 15 hours to get in to get into see a doctor for my broken ribs. host: what is your message to congress? caller: close the border.

do it legally up you are use your brain. joe and mayorkas, what is the end game for them? are they tried to make this a socialist country? i think that is what they are trying to do. host: let's go to jerry in new york on our independent line. caller: thank you for hearing me. i was a border patrol agent back in the 1970's. we would have maybe four units with two sets of handcuffs and 500 people trying to run in with 3000 border patrol agents all over the border. it was almost impossible to stop the surge of immigrants coming in back then. what i think they should be doing now is that -- congress should put a moratorium on no one else coming in. put the national guard there. say that the american family, our family, the whole country is overloaded and upset and we

would like to have a reboot and try to resolve the issue and then have legal immigration and allow them to come in legally, but right now there should be a moratorium on allowing them to come in and put the national guard down there to help border patrol agents. then the northern border also. seal up the borders for three years. host: howard is in ohio on our republican line. caller: i think that they need to close the border and i mean close it, like trump was doing. call it inhumane or whatever you want to call it, but the fact is i am retired now. the last place i worked was 33 years. i had insurance the whole time. i had insurance when i was younger.

now i have no insurance and i cannot get insurance for another year through social security and these illegals walk in and get money. they get free medical and they say the government keeps telling people they do not get nothing. baloney. walk into any medical place and they will tell you they walk in. they get whatever they need. the american people get squat. close the border. you want us to go by all these laws, but they may laws the government -- mean -- the main laws the government will not go by themselves. we need to throughout the government and start from scratch. host: next we have omaha, nebraska. caller: good morning. immigration is part of the natural human condition and i

believe all these european immigrants and descendants of immigrants know that. i was an immigration lawyer. while i was a lawyer, all they kept doing was any legal means to come here kept getting taken away. you do not give them any means to come here. that does not seem to make sense. i think what we need to do is have another amnesty to make them legal because then we will know who they are. we will not be complaining about that anymore. we will know who they are. we need them for our economy because our national debt -- if we legalize these people, that would take care of all of that. they will not have to be competing with workers.

right now, they pay taxes and get no benefits. host: you're referring to sales taxes, i am guessing. caller: sales taxes. if you walked on the street, you have to pay taxes. but it is just basically racism that is stopping at. if these were europeans coming, there would be no issue. or white people. just look at ukraine. we brought over close to 400,000 of them now. thanks for letting me have my comment. host: several folks have mentioned health care for migrants. here is some information from the kaiser family foundation, which says that this is health care access and use among immigrants and adults by immigration status.

we have this dark blue-collar, naturalized citizens. the middle blue, lawfully present immigrants. lighter blue is likely undocumented immigrants. this was a survey of immigrants done from april 10 to june 12. for likely undocumented immigrants, which is what most of our conversations focused on, they have had 38 of them report no usual source of care other than the emergency room. 37% report no doctor visits in the past 12 months. dirty 1% say they have skipped or postponed care in the past 12 months and then he goes on to say research shows immigrants have lower health care expenditures than u.s. born counterparts as a result of lower health care access and use , although out-of-pocket payments tend to be higher due to higher uninsured rates. research finds because

immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, have lower health care use despite contributing billions of dollars in insurance premiums and taxes, they help subsidize u.s. health care system and offset the cost of care incurred by u.s. born citizens, according to the kaiser family foundation. let's go to christian in arizona on our republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have spoken on c-span many times about this problem that we have and the reality is stolen elections have consequences. stolen elections have consequences. the counties in the united states that do not want to have a fair election, this is why we have this problem. don't talk to me about any other country. we have three branches of government. and the fact is, since our united states congress over

decades has given away the power through the immigration nationality act to the article two, the president of the united states, that means every election we have it depends on who is in the white house. just over the past couple months, there were residents in chicago complaining about how they are setting up all these folks coming inside the country. don't tell me that it does not have an impact on your police or your firefighters response. don't tell me does not have an impact on housing. heard from a resident in yuma about problems they have. i have been down to yuma. i have stood in the border wall myself. i have talked to the border patrol. i have been immigrations and customs enforcement, so i do not want to hear about how this is just a problem.

we chose to allow our elections to be stolen. i will say this to all the right-leaning voters and the truck voters. independents, in order for us to get our elected officials to do anything, we are going to have to get involved. we cannot sit on our hands and expect them to do their jobs automatically. that is why we have speaker johnson doing the same continuing resolution, because we are not giving them requirements when they get into elected office. stolen elections have consequences. as long as our counties are doing what they are doing in maricopa county and milwaukee county and clark county and philadelphia county, this is -- host: i want to add some data to what you are saying.

this is from the office of justice program at the u.s. to part and of justice. this is actually pretty old -- i am not want to go with that peerless go to charles in virginia on our democratic line. caller: good morning. i just like to say they could do something about the border if they wanted to. if they did the four things that you put up earlier that the republicans would like to do. and if they included the dreamers, making them citizens, and also any long-term immigrants. then the small businesses and the large corporations who hire illegal immigrants. i'm not sure the republican

party wants any type of immigration reform. at the begin of your program, mike mccall said he has been up there 25 years. in about 2014, the senate passed an immigration bill and the republican house refused to take it up. so that is my comment. thank you. host: i was looking for more recent data on the cost of migrants here in the united states, particularly when it refers to police and law enforcement. here's a story about the cost in new york from november 16. eric adams/is -- eric adams slashes budgets. democrats said these would -- were unnecessary up your the

mayor warned more cuts would be necessary without additional federal funding to manage the micro crisis. -- it would put the number of officers below 30,000 for the first times as the 1980's and delay the rollout of composting in two boroughs. let's hear a facebook comment from denise, who says, my message to congress is do your job and legislate common sense immigration laws instead of creating one crisis after another with your continued inactions. let's hear from don in new mexico, a border state. caller: this topic really rankles me. it plays into the racist, weitzer premises -- white supremacist, fascist base of the

republican party. there was a bill passed during the george w. bush administration and the republicans killed it in the house. there was a bipartisan bill during the obama administration and republicans in the house killed it. for those people who talk about the wall, one of the most safe walls in the world was in israel. that wall was penetrated. i do not think most people understand that when people come to the border they can claim amnesty. why do we have that law? it was during world war two. there was a group of jewish immigrants on a boat outside new york harbor and they sent them back to europe to die.

my suggestion for c-span is that when you discuss this topic that you have someone who is an expert in immigration law because immigration -- until you do that, you are playing into the racist, white supremacist, fascist nature of people in this country. what you're doing is just -- you're not suggesting rules by democracy. your suggesting role by an autocrat, an authoritarian who can just come forward and say, i do not want you. host: i will say that c-span has over the years had many immigration experts on, including legal experts. i would encourage everyone to go to c-span.org to look at those interviews. also mentioned was the idea of qualification for asylum. i want to go to an article about ongoing negotiations on a potential deal, which is in its

early stages. it says there is a big sticking point. the six principal negotiators are arbitrating a dispute over raising the standard for claiming asylum in the united states, with the gop saying it is a must have to move ukraine aid and democrats balking so far. those border talks are ongoing and this was this past week. wednesday, discussions were positive according to a person familiar with them. they were planning to continue talking over the thanksgiving recess. i want to go tomorrow, so we have received. -- to more comments we have received. most successful nations maintain a safe and secure border, a common language for effective communication, and a culture of similar shared values. american leadership is intentionally failing citizens of this country on all three. let's go to another call, riley

in florida. on our independent line. it is your turn. can you hear us? all right. let's go to carol in michigan on our republican line. caller: good morning. i have three things. end birthright citizenship immediately. and finish the wall. make it longer. number three -- i have two more. send all the illegals that the democrats hearts are bursting over -- send all the illegals to the democrat cities like new york and i can never forgive biden for opening our borders to more disease and more covid when

he did during our pandemic. when he opened that border during the pandemic, that is unforgivable. thank you. host: we want to follow up on something carol said about ending birthright citizenship. "the new york times" has a story discussing former president donald trump's reported plans for how he would address immigration if reelected, including mass deportations. one of the issues is -- there is a moment in his article talking about removing birthright citizenship. here we go. mr. trump would try to end birthright citizenship for babies born in the united states to undocumented parents by proclaiming that policy to be the new position of the

government and by ordering agencies to stop issuing citizenship affirming documents like social security cards and passports to them. the legal legitimacy, like nearly all of mr. trump's plans cut would be virtually certain to end up before the supreme court. a couple more comments from social media. change the immigration laws. the problem is that republicans are not serious in doing so. they prefer to tell lies about an open border while democrats take advantage of archaic immigration laws that bring in hundreds of thousands of people. philippe in maryland says, do some research on why these people keep leaving their countries. the american government needs to stop supporting corrupt governments from those countries. and alfredo in michigan says, illegal immigration has been a problem for native americans

since 1492. let's hear from james in buffalo, new york on our democratic line. caller: my name is james. i would like to have two comments. the first one is this is a christian country. when jesus christ was in town, his family immigrated to egypt. they were allowed to emigrate. i thought that was the christian thing to do. my second comment is we need immigration. we need people to come to this country so we can balance the budget, get fresh minds, and give people of color a chance. host: next we have elizabeth in missouri on our independent line. it is your turn. caller: yes.

i am elizabeth of st. joseph, missouri, right near the center of kansas city, missouri, or i was raised. 17 years ago, people were friendly. everyone talked. they had a place where anybody could go get health care. i went down there last year and the only way i could get in was waking up at 5:30 in the freezing cold, sitting in line for an hour. i was the first one there. i barely got in. i had a tooth removed. all the people with masks and caller -- color and i do not know who is what anymore. i am a 60-year-old lady with liver failure in the united states. and i am barely getting the

health care i need through northwest health. and mosaic. i wanted to make a note to any other women or people my age who are slowly dying off in the new wave. host: i'm sorry about your illness. i'm wondering what message you would have to congress about border security. caller: take care of your american citizens. 60 years and older. 50 years and up. we are dying off. all they are doing are putting needles and us. -- in us. host: i'm hoping for your health or let's hear from brad in oklahoma on our republican line. caller: i have one question.

why does left-wing media -- admitting that biden is trying to destroy our country? host: ok. next we have thomas in crockett, texas on our democratic line. caller: i believe as long as you have governors like the one in florida and texas -- that don't make sense to me. that don't make sense. that just don't make sense to me at all. they have been coming for years. it is just more of them now and more countries.

i do not know what to do to stop them. put the united states army down there, i guess. most of them are coming to work. all of them in my area, they got jobs. they said there ain't no jobs. all of them got 1, 2 jobs are they all got a job. it is not for me to figure out but whatever it is is what it is. host: next we have david in arizona on our independent line. caller: what i would like to tell congress -- the immigration policy does not seem like it would be that hard. if we committed to the infrastructure down on the border of opening more ports of entry, having more processing centers to process asylum-seekers so we could find out whether they truly are going

to be granted the possibility to come into our country, start there to build some sort of structure around these facilities and then we can process all of these people through their in hopes that we can really make a difference and get this under control. it really does not seem that hard. when you thing technology we have to be able to patrol the border, we do not need as much manpower as putting our national guard down there. we have the technology to do something. congress just does not have the will to do it. thank you. host: diane says a similar thing on facebook. congress needs to stop playing games and make immigration laws and policies. then those laws need resources

to be enforced and we need to get to the root cause of the so-called immigration crisis. this is not a problem that just affects this country. we need to be a country of compassion and live up to our core values. michael says, d.c. politicians from both major applicable parties have been dragging their feet on immigration for decades but can approve hundreds of billions of dollars for foreign wars within hours and days. think about that. then, talking about asylum, something earlier we referenced that republicans in the senate are working on a deal, have talked about changing the qualifications for asylum. asylum is a form of protection that allows an individual to remain in the united states instead of being removed, deported to a country or he or she fears persecution or harm. under u.s. law, people who flee

their countries because they fear persecution can apply for asylum. next we have james in north carolina on our republican line. can you turn down the volume on your television? caller: yes. i want to say good morning. my opinion is that i think one way to solve the border crisis is that if you take the ones that don't want to agree with it and separate the ones that do want to agree with it, make the ones that want to agree with the nonsense that is going on, make them pay for it. make them pay for all the illegal stuff going on with their own bank accounts. and their family bank accounts. i bet it would stop overnight.

host: i didn't mean to cut you off. frank is on our democratic line. caller: can i speak? host: go ahead. caller: the security issue -- the problem with the fences is not a deterrent because they can take a concrete saw and cut holes in it. there are many places that is not patrolled and then walk right through it. just a symbolic gesture. the thing that needs to be done is a reason why they are coming here, job assistance, financial gain. if they remove that, that stems the reason for them coming. that is the way to attack the border issue. another comment i have to say is about the republican line.

there was a caller who want about -- wind -- whined about the election being stolen. it is sore losers. it went through election boards within republican states and they certified the election as being true and not being cemented by fraud. if anything, the republican controlled election states would have tilted to favor in the republican side to keep republicans in or have them win and they themselves did not. they certified them. so it is just being sore losers. host: i want to bring in information here because immigration is a big topic for the 2024 election.

we were speaking about the origins of the micro crisis. president biden met earlier this month with the president of mexico. here's a story from the washington post. they pledged to work together on border issues, a major target for republicans. on friday, earlier this month, they reaffirmed their commitment to work together to address migration and combat fentanyl trafficking to the u.s., tackling two issues that have been main lines of attack against the administration by 2024 republican residential candidates, including former president trump, who was in iowa last weekend and spoke about immigration as well in -- and his plans if you win next november. [video clip] >> on my first day back in the white house, i will terminate

every open borders policy of the biden administration. i will stop the invasion on our southern border and began the largest domestic deportation operation in american history. back to their countries. i will immediately expand the trump travel ban. we all know what that is. on entry from terror plate countries. i will emblem meant -- implement ideological screening on immigrants. i had a travel ban on numerous countries which are horrible in terms of what is taking place within those countries. and countries that hate us. i do not want them in our country. they hate our country. i do not want them in our country. host: and a comment on facebook saying, trump is going to bring back his successful border policy that biden overturned and will finish building the wall and return to his remain in mexico policy. he will deport lawbreaking

illegals and put america first. problem solved. joe says on facebook, we need a plan to handle the situation. the world has a lot of places no one wants to be. they are going to go where it is better. right now, that is europe and the united states. the marshall plan fixed europe. now let's fix these other places. think of it as defense spending. then john in maryland, finish the wall. people must apply in their own country or not be allowed in. next on our independent line, maria is in california. caller: hi. good morning. i just wanted to say that i never vote in my life since i was born. you turn 18 and you could vote. i have never voted. i am going to vote for president trump because what he says when

he was president when he said that all these things was going to happen if biden become president. and it sure did. everything that he said is coming true. we are afraid because all the people that came from different countries illegally, we have terrorists and we will have a lot of problems. and i feel sorry for all the people that legally came to the united states and it at the right way and now that this is happening you're going to see a lot of stuff, bad stuff. i pray to god that if this election happens, that president trump wins that we will have justice.

host: president biden spoke tuesday on steps the current administration is taking to tackle some immigration issues, specifically the fentanyl crisis in the united states. >> fentanyl is likely the number one killer of americans 18 to 45. it is an issue that is hurting families in every state across the nation. it is something every american can get behind, democrat and republican. that is why tackling the epidemic is driving my agenda. we are working intensely to address this from every angle we can pursue. our ministration is taking steps to expand access to lifesaving public health services and break down barriers for treatment for substance abuse disorders. we focus on prevention, harm

reduction, and recovery. that has been our focus. this also has roots outside our borders, outside the united states. it is a global challenge that demands global action. we are pursuing strong international coordination to strangle these deadly drugs, as we are doing with chemical agreements used to produce these drugs. last week in san francisco, we made important progress with china and mexico to address this scourge. host: another comment from social media on facebook. how says -- hal says, it has been inadequately addressed for decades. it is important to focus on problem solving with bipartisan approach. we have david in north carolina on our republican line.

caller: joe biden just said that fentanyl is the number one killer. joe biden is to do something. it is a terror attack through the democrat party. families destroyed and all this kind of good stuff. i can tell you what they need, some good, godly men gathered around that place and some things would be done in this country and done right. trump come under his presidential -- we did not have this stuff like this. families destroyed. kids being raped and abused, whatever. it is ungodly. have a good day. thank you. host: zach is in pennsylvania on

our democratic line. caller: good morning. when kennedy was in office, he had the peace corps. kids learn to but other places. ronald reagan gave amnesty, like the one who called earlier, and brothers people out of the shadows and put them on the cash rolls so we knew where they are -- brought those people out of the shadows and put them on the cash roles so we knew where they are. barack it the dreamers. -- gave us the dreamers. i am 65 years old. it is exhausting. when bush was in office, we had a decent reform bill. republicans killed it. because their focus group tells them this is a winning strategy. let's keep this in our back pocket so when we do have a democrat president we can at least -- unleash this on the

american people. because it is not about policy and governing. it is about being in power. it is about why they gerrymander everywhere they go. it is why they cannot win a popular vote. cheating. you do not want to talk about a guy that has 91 felonies facing him. you want to talk about over 300 of my fellow citizens sitting in jail because of a lie. host: a couple more comments from text. frank says, what we need our employer sanctions on a reporting hiring illegal aliens. they should have to garnish their wages to about 30%. that should be put into an account they can only access to return to their home country. next we have bob in michigan on

our independent line. rob. go ahead. caller: thank you. other folks have called in and said the current society was built on hard-working immigrants. they were needed in our past and will be needed in the future. we need a different paradigm to handle immigrants, perhaps a work permit. apply for a work permit, it is granted, you come to this country, you file state and federal taxes and at the end of the year you present those filings to the government and they will renew your permit if you have done that for five years you may apply for citizenship. the caveat is that there are no social services provided. there will not be free medical care and free housing. there will not be a lot of other

things. when you are established in this country, you may send for family from the old country, as they call it come and bring them into the country. it could be granted citizenship -- they could be granted citizenship. there would be penalties for anyone who hires anyone without a work permit, significant enough to harm their business or lose a license. it might illuminate the need for a wall because the only people who would be crossing into this country would be considered criminals. if they were captured, they will be fingerprinted, given a dna test for records, returned to their country, and upon second entry they would be placed into prison for a minimum of two years. host: i didn't mean to cut you off, but we want to get to a couple more callers before we

run out of time in this segment peerless go to paul on our republican line -- segment. let's go to paul on our republican line. caller: our country was built on immigrants. immigration is a great thing if it is done right. what is going on in this country right now, it is not going great. worst of all, i do not think a noncitizen should be able to vote. they are try to do that in new york. they are trying to do that in california. to me, that is crazy. at the beginning of biden's term, cubans were trying to come over on boats to florida and were turned around. why were they doing that but letting people across the southern border? it makes no sense. i think the whole thing is a sham. you try crossing the border in almost any other country, they will probably shoot you. they will not give you free meals at a place to stay.

we need to get it together. if they are going to do it, they should do it right. everybody deserves an opportunity, but needs to be done right. the people who came through did it right. now you're letting everybody else come through. it is not fair. host: last caller for now, sally, our democratic line. caller: i am having a problem with these past couple of years, the republicans. when you he republicans constantly saying, the border is open, the border is open. if people used common sense, wouldn't that people into the united states? the border is open, let's go. whatever their situation is. i would say, stop saying that. there is an article that sums it up. in the dallas morning news, there is a pole.

disinformation about open borders helps spur migrant surge. everyone, look that up and read it. let's be opening up our eyes and don't believe these people that keep saying the border is open. it is an open advertisement to bring people in. these poor people came, they sell everything, they risk their lives. to come, thinking the border is open and it is not. do your research, people. that is all i want to say. thank you. host: next on "washington journal," we hear from republican media consultant and strategist adam goodman, who is going to discuss the gop residential field and campaign 2024 news of the day. later, progressive commentator jen uecker -- cenk uygur why he is running against president biden for the democratic nomination of president. ♪

>> live sunday, december 3 on in-depth. john you joins book tv to talk and take calls about the u.s. supreme court, his support of presidential power, the bush and trump administrations and more. his book includes commander-in-chief trumps fight for political power. join in the conversation with your phone calls, facebook comments and texts. in-depth with john yoo sunday, december 3 at noon eastern on book tv on c-span two. ♪ ♪ >> dr. sarah ogilvy has spent eight years of studying the creation of the oxford english dictionary. her book is called the dictionary people. she has a phd in linguistics from oxford, studied over 3000

original attribute or's dictionary. her comment in the introduction about what she found is "i was thrilled to discover not one, but three murders. a pornographic collector, carl marx's daughter, a president of el, the inventor of the tennis net adjuster, the pair of lesbian writers who wrote under a male pen name and a cocaine addict found dead in a railway station laboratory." >> authors sarah ogle be on this episode of book notes plus. book plus is available on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ >> traveling over the holidays? make c-span's bookshelf podcast feed part of your playlist. listen to c-span's podcast that feature nonfiction books all in one place. it features a critically acclaimed authors discussing

history, biographies, current events and culture from our signature program, afterward, book notes plus and q and a. listen to c-span's podcast feed this holiday season. you can listen to it on our c-span mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts and our website, c-span.org/podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined now by longtime republican strategist and columnist adam goodman who is the tufts university bellow and has worked on more than 200 winning federal, state and local races in 46 states. welcome to the program. guest: great to be with you, kimberly. host: you have been in this business a long time. what is your take on the republican side of the 2024 race so far? guest: it has been quite a contest so far. yet, it is not really a contest.

obviously, former president trump is way ahead in all the public opinion polls. we are told and i will tell people, do not pay attention to that. the margin is so great right now, kimberly, between the former president and the field. it is hard to see something that may interfere with the trajectory of that, other than the parallel campaigns because -- parallel campaigns being played out as the president is on the defense. it is interesting in terms of where republicans are. i think that has been one of the benefits of the debates and escutcheon to date. on foreign policy, as well as domestic policy. foreign policy is now back on the radar, off the back burner and for good reason because they think a lot of the things we treasure most at home begin with protecting our interest from things that may impact us abroad. host: with trump being the leading candidate at the moment, what are some of -- one of the

minuses of his ongoing legal troubles? he is a strong favorite to be the nominee, what is working in his favor at the moment? guest: in 2016, what many people missed was that it was a referendum on the economy which, if you listen to mainstream media at that point, they were saying, things are great, inflation is low. what was happening in 2016 is happening again right now, which is what i refer to as the squeeze, where wages are keeping pace with the cost of living and more and more people are hurting financially than ever before. this is major order for donald trump. that is how he campaigned in 2016 essentially against the system and unbelievably, one presidential term in, he is still campaigning against the system and these court cases that you just referred to -- in a way, that fits his narrative

that he is taking on those forces that are stopping him and others in america from moving forward. saying of course whether you agree with it or not, it has become highly weaponized, highly politicized. that is in the ear and eyes of the beholder. clearly, that has been his message. if you look at the polling, his polling has simply continue to move toward the heavens as opposed to back to terra firma. that is something we have never seen in american politics, this kind of dynamic. the campaign for the former president will be waged clearly on two different fronts and the courtroom of public opinion and in courts of law. how that turns out is anyone's guess, but it is going to make for a very historic election. host: from your perspective, what are the pluses and minuses for the biden team heading into 2024? guest: the biden team is going

to set up to make this a referendum on donald trump, that donald trump is in fact the republican nominee. they have telegraphed that. i think the first campaign video from the biden effort really was of fear and engendered by the idea of a second trump term. i think they are going to go there. they tried to sell their achievements. there have been some achievements under the president. the infrastructure bill being a big one. he keeps talking about bidenomics, for instance, at a time where people are hurting. i do not think that is playing. that, plus as everyone talks about, his age, are not benefiting the current president in his narrative and his rationale, predominantly running and winning a second term. host: speaking of that narrative, we have a recent

biden campaign ad which is called delivers. [video clip] ♪ >> he says he stands with autoworkers, but as president, donald trump asked tax breaks for his rich friends while automakers shuttered their plans and the u.s. lost manufacturing jobs. joe biden said he would stand up for workers, and he is delivering, passing laws that are increasing wages and creating good paying jobs. manufacturing is coming back to america because joe biden does not just talk, he delivers. >> i am joe biden and i approve this message. host: we are going to be taking your calls in a bit so you can start calling in now. our democratic line is (202) 748-8000. republicans on (202) 748-8001. independents on (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. adam, you just heard that ad. what is your take on the messaging? guest: clearly, one thing the democrats must do is recapture

what you might consider a lost ground on america's working class. one of the interesting things that has happened in the last couple of years is that the republican party, which was forever seen as the party of big is this, is now becoming more and more the party of the working class. i think that ad is aimed squarely at that trend, or reversing that trend. when he says he is for working americans, bringing back manufacturing, when you look at the national mood -- there was one poll that came out recently saying three out of four americans believe we are moving in the wrong direction. the question that becomes when you see an ad and message like that, do you really buy it? i think that is a negative environment that we now live in in this country. that is a hard sell for the current president. host: you have mentioned a couple of issues, but what else do you think, what are the main issues you think are going to be driving voters in 2024?

guest: on the republican side, i think it is going to be a referendum on the system. i think it is going to be the economy. there is a great sense of trust, going back to polls, that people have on the republican side versus the alternative. i think emigration is going to be a big issue. foreign policy is going to be a big issue, certainly as it relates not to israel in the middle east, but china and the war in ukraine. in terms of democrats, i think the democrats are going to have a very big move once again as we saw in 2022 to focus on things like abortion, the right to choose. we have seen in the campaigns in this past year, the ohio referendum where they fought against an abortion ban. that is going to be front and center, i think, and democratic campaigns all over the country. beyond that and beyond democrats

pushing what they believe is a former who represents extremism, uncertainty, etc. that will be in play, too. i do not know if that is enough to turn a national electorate that right now, more than ever, historically, really is down the map looking for a shot in the arm. i think there is going to be a lot of change across the board. host: there is another republican debate coming up on december 6. if you were advising former president trump, would you suggest that he attend that debate, or no? guest: absolutely not. [laughter] if i am his advisor, no, there is nothing for him to gain. obviously, it seems every time there is a republican debate now, it is now expected counter programming by donald trump about the same time the debate is on. he has done nothing but gain ground.

only thing that has changed in the republican field is you have nikki haley, former ambassador to the u.n. under donald trump, gaining ground quickly on ron desantis. both of them still sit 30 points or more off the president's rear wing. i think with the calendar growing short, iowa is not all that far away. new hampshire, right behind that. i think the clock and calendar are working against the challengers. host: the washington post has a story about nikki haley from november the 13th, the campaign announcing a $10 million ad buy in iowa and new hampshire. that is going to start in early december. ron desantis looking to be the main gop alternative to donald trump, that seems to be the battle to be the alternative. what does that mean in the long term for the primaries? guest: uncertain.

it is really uncertain. as i said earlier, donald trump has two campaigns going on. one is in courts of law. some of those are going to start to gin up around super tuesday, of all things, that there is not enough going on to grab our attention. in terms of nikki haley, i would argue also ron desantis, what they are trying to sell here -- if that is the right word -- is confidence. if you ask americans, what we really want? do we want ideal laws? do we want republicans bashing democrats and democrats bashing republicans? do we want politics to overwhelm all common sense and achievement? they want to get things done. americans want competent, squared away leaders to get things done. obviously, congress still suffering from very low approval ratings because of that. the speaker scrum certainly added to that. i think if there is one thing

americans would like to see, it is someone who puts country first, not party, is able to move the needle and make things just a little bit easier than they are today. host: we have lots of calls coming in for you. let's start with nate in las vegas on our republican line. caller: good morning. donald trump is the greatest president we have ever had, except for maybe towards washington and abraham lincoln. the only way the democrats can defeat him is to convict him. the new york case is so ridiculous because nobody was damaged. they can say he overvalued everything, but there -- everybody got their money. so, we have to make sure that we get out there and get the boat -- vote. the media wants us to think it is 50-50. it is not 50-50. it is more about 70-30 people

leaning to the left. four, do you want to check the box, liberal, socialist, progressive, communist, democrat? if you want to check that box -- host: are you saying you think 70% of the country is liberal? caller: absolutely. but not more than just liberal, i can deal with liberals, ok? but when it comes to the socialist tactics, the progressives, when it comes to the communist tactics, it is amazing that the republicans can even make these elections this close, even with their overall cheating of the democrats. host: nate, let's get some response here from adam. first of all, what do you think about the demographic breakdown of the country in terms of political leanings and in terms of voter turnout that nate was mentioning? how much do you think these legal cases against trump are going to drive gop voter turnout? guest: i think the legal cases

are going to drive turnout on the republican side. nate of course lives in nevada. nevada is one of those swing states that everyone is going to be looking at in the fall of 2024 to see how this is going to fly. in nevada, recent polling looks very close. one of the things that is changing -- i did not expect to see this, may be the last time in fact the country saw this in terms of young voters looking at the republican ticket favorably was, you have to go back to the days of ronald reagan in the early 1980's. new polling has now shown young voters 18 to 30 who are now voting more and more because of mail-in ballots are starting to peel off of the democratic party. they have not necessarily come in full embrace of the republican party. in one of the polls, cnn think just came out and said donald

trump is actually winning among younger voters over joe biden. that, i thought, was a shocker. you can probably remember back in 2020 joe biden won young voters marginally. hillary clinton in 2016 defeated donald trump among younger voters by 30 points. just to see the younger voters may be up for grabs, i think that is a new demographic twist for 2024 we were not expecting. frankly as a political professional in years past, we would have shrugged it off. these are younger voters, they tend not to vote even in presidential years. because of mail-in ballots, they are voting. they are more engaged than ever. they are looking for something that you have to find. i think they are going to be very fluid in this election. for the first time in my career i can say, this campaign beyond hinging on possibly the abortion

vote driving women still in the democratic column on a short of that dynamic, i think younger voters may control the fate of the 2024 campaign. that is completely, complete uncertainty about how that is going to play. host: i'm looking at polling here from gallup. this is from a report coming out in january, looking historically at the distribution of u.s. political preferences going all the way back to 1991. it doesn't show a pretty even split as of 2022 between -- it does show a pretty even split as of 2022 between republican and democrat. which encompass interviews of more than 10,000 u.s. adults. next up, let's hear from jerry in new jersey on our democratic line. go ahead, jerry. caller: good morning, mr. goodman.

i am a registered democrat. i have been extremely disappointed in the democratic party. the hamas thing, these protests that are going on are scary. i cannot believe how many people are actually against this country. it is just amazing to me. mostly democrats wearing masks, scary. the other thing is, you are not talking about biden's trials coming up, the criticism of him and the correctness of biden --corruptpness of biden is going to come out and hurt him. the other thing is the january 6 tapes come are coming out. people are saying that january 6 committee was so corrupt. i am hoping that they will not get put on -- i am hoping they will get put on the stand and --liz cheney and all of them, these are republicans that lied, lied, pick and choose and lied

about what was going on. those poor people still in jail and going to jail have to be let out. i know they are trying to make a big issue about this january 6, but the truth will come out. i believe that nancy pelosi and them were all in it together. i believe they really did want to hold up the question about the election. host: i want to let adam respond here. how much of 2024 is going to be about the past versus the future? i am looking here at a trump at that claimed --trump ad that claimed hillary clinton wanted to brainwash voters. let's play a bit of that ad which took a swipe at hillary clinton alluding that the 2016 rival wanted to brainwash voters into supporting president biden. [video clip] >> with trump taking a

commanding lead and bidenomics hurting american families, genius hillary clinton has come up with a way for biden to win. >> there needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members. formal deprogramming of the cult members. deprogramming. deprogramming of the colt members. >> a brilliant plan. here is what that would look like. >> pay attention. joe biden will defeat him. ♪ >> biden has done an amazing job. amazing job. >> there is just one small problem. >> deplorable. deplorable. >> working americans are idiots and -- are not idiots and know who is on their side. >> to american workers watching their take-home pay shrink and watching inflation destroy their

families and their lives, to all of you, i have your back. [applause] ♪ >> i am donald j. trump and i approve this message. host: adam, would love to hear your response to that ad and this idea about the election of the past and the future. guest: elections are always about the future, about what is going to happen tomorrow because we can't fix the past. we can talk about the past, we can analyze and assess the past, but it is all about what is next. that is what elections are all about. i'm glad you asked that question, because a lot of campaigns tend to want to keep looking in the rearview mirror. i keep trying to relitigate the past -- how it could have been different, how it could have been at her, how it could have been less punishing to americans and others across the world. when in fact, what we are looking for is a shot in the arm, especially at a time where

americans are down the map. we are pessimistic about where things are and where things are moving. what we are looking for is someone that is going to make us believe again. that has nothing to do with what donald j. trump did years ago or what biden did a year ago. it has to do with, what are you going to do next? what is your next act? how are you going to make a fundamental difference in my life? i do not think we are hearing enough of that, frankly, from almost anybody right now. that is the void that if someone fills, i think, could become a shooting star of not just a message, but a messenger who suddenly grabs not just the attention, but passion of america. we are waiting and hoping to see that happen. host: speaking of filling a void, what is your take on potential third-party runs? there has been a lot of talk of joe manchin aching a potential independent run.

you have jill stein, robert f. kennedy, jr. and others. what impact could a potential third-party candidate have? guest: a tremendous impact for two reasons. one, any independent candidate -- we will put all the independents together. if they were to generate 20% or more of the popular vote in 2024, it is not enough to win, but it is enough to spark a third party movement. i think that is something that is inevitable. when that will happen, do not know yet. if you listen to robert kennedy -- frankly, this will age me a little bit, i was alive when his dad was alive. that kind of kennedy, i think, could have had a real shot to make a big impact on this campaign. i do not think the kennedy that is running will. i think that no labels, some of

your audience has heard that name, that is a group that is looking at a potential third-party candidacy. joe manchin was one of the names mentioned as a possible nominee. hogan, former governor of maryland. i do not think we are quite there yet. if you want the truth here, the truth is that the two parties, the republican and democratic parties, have a monopoly and have had a monopoly in the electoral system for a very long time. they do not want anyone else to come to the dance. you may have also seen recently that the presidential panel on debates, the group that will put on the presidential debates -- if they happen, they have to be agreed to by the contenders, in the fall of 2024, they are going to invite not just the republican and democratic nominee, but independents, as well. i think it is a discussion this country needs to have. as i said earlier, we need to find a way to somehow put

country above party again. and look for leaders who want to do that, as opposed to checking your party registration at the gate and determining whether or not you are qualified to have an opinion, much less to be a driver of change. host: quickly before we get back to the calls, do you think a third-party run would help/hurt democrats or republicans more? guest: great guessing game right now. what is going to happen, who does it hurt? i think it hurts both the republican and democratic nominees to some extent. however, you have to look at the passion of bases. you see that the primary -- what i mean by that is, how committed are the biden voters to joe biden? how committed are the trump voters to donald trump? i think the level of commitment to donald trump is higher than it is to the level of commitment to joe biden.

i think in a multicandidate scrum at the end of the 2024 election, i think that will favor slightly and may be slightly is all you need, given the closeness of this election to come. that will slightly favor the republican nominee. host: now to crystal in jupiter, florida on our independent line. caller: what a great segue. i actually was a democratic candidate for state house of representatives in 2016. i joked i was a down ballot fatality of hillary clinton, because of the district i was running in. i only lost by 4% to a 21 year incumbent, but it was still a loss. i voted for joe biden previously. i will not be voting for joe biden again. my husband will not be voting for joe biden. we will not be voting for donald trump. we plan on voting for rfk. the reason why is we are not in a better situation four years later after joe biden. the fact he is running ads on

manufacturing jobs as indicative of what he plans to or what he plans not to do, any manufacturing plant that was a blueprint will not be ready in the next four years. we have more kids going to college now than ever before. how are they going to want a manufacturing job? he is nonsensical. he gets up there and does a press conference or does a off comment and he literally sounds like my grandmother who needs my help doing simple things with her. i just do not see -- i am 40, my husband is 45. we are not in a better situation and we do not see 7% to 9% interest rates as a better situation. we work in a luxury market with yachts. that market is drying up. the biden economics thing is true right now.

that is unfortunate for me to say, because i am so far from a trump supporter. we travel the country a lot. there is a high likely hood of the fact that trump will be our next president, which is terrifying and horrible, but i think the democratic party has made that a possibility i not putting the actual candidate -- we call him crazy uncle joe in our house and asking crazy uncle joe to sit down. host: let's let adam respond to that. guest: first of all, thanks for running for office. i wish more people would feel the pull of civic pride and responsibility and run for office. thank you for doing that. in terms of your opinion about the president, again, let's be honest. joe biden, who has been in office forever -- four in washington usually it happens

a lot seener but 50 years in, he really has. i agree with your assessment, we will call it his fit ps for office -- fitness for office. 80 years of age looking every bit that the presidency is not a place to recharge your batteries but usually drain them. so you can't imagine he will be more vital in a second term than the first. the whole thing you talked about in trmings of -- terms of bidenomics. they tried to sell that. the president has tried as brs he could to sell the fact that his economic policies have been good but you can't convince people who are paying what they're paying at the gas pump, in the grocery store, for all sorts of consumer goods, for insurance policies, everything continues to go up and as i said earlier, it's the squeeze. the price of -- the cost of living is going up much faster than wages even though wages have gone up in many sectors in the country. they're not keeping pace with

costs and people can't make ends meet that way and it forces the kind of decision that you and your husband are going to have to make which is i can't go the democratic way in this, as much as you may want to, you just can't because out of not just self-interest but community interest. it doesn't work. but then you find that the other choice is not all that appealing as well. it's what we find in america right now, which is the most frustrating. we are looking for something we can't seem to find, and i think you and your husband are right square in the middle of that as are a lot of people across the country. host: danny is in south carolina on our republican line. caller: donald trump. thank you. host: ralph in battle creek, michigan, on the democratic line. caller: policy and economic policy, inflation, what would trump do about inflation?

because right now -- you give me your statistics if mine are incorrect. what i am reading is that inflation is coming down, that inflation is lower than all the european countries. i don't know what the number is for inflation exactly, but maybe you can give it. the other economic statistic would be unemployment. i keep hearing unemployment is like a 40-year low. is that correct or not correct? what would trump do? and then third, i have here economic growth, the last quarter was 4.9% growth rate which was much higher than any quarter in trump's period. as far as my understanding. so maybe you can give statistics about inflation and unemployment and economic growth. host: ok, let's go ahead and get you some of those numbers. first of all, in terse of the current inflation rate, the annual inflation rate of the united states according to the

u.s. inflation calculator was 3.2% for the 12 monthsenedding in october compared to 3.7% previously. and the next update we get on december 12 here is a chart looking at it over time, that inflation rate obviously doesn't necessarily mean that prices have gotten any cheaper. it's just sort of the rate of prices getting faster. go ahead, adam, if you want to talk about what trump would do on these economic issues. guest: i appreciate the question from ralph. he is asking the right questions about what would the republicans do? that the democrats are not? my opinion is this. i think it's been a poxen all houses, meaning republicans and democrats, both, have been responsible for what we see in terms of the national debt which is now 32 trillion or so and increasing, in terms of lack of spending restraint in congress,

lack of appropriate revenue to fund basic services, which has led to a large degree to the inflation that's in play. so i think both parties and all leadership is somehow in part responsible for where we find ourselves. the question is what to do. but when you said low unemployment, ralph, and you are right, that's the same statistic that we heard back in 2016, that unemployment was low. but people were hurting. they were hurting because wages weren't keeping up with the cost of living. and that is the bottom line. then you talk about things like housing. for young people in particular, i have two children, one is fortunate to have had enough for a down payment on a house. the other is in his mid 20's, not quite there yet. but i rue for them, i feel for them and for children all over america, young americans all over the country, who cannot

afford housing. it's not just buying a house. it's even just a rental, incomes have gone up greatly for landlords. rentals for the renters has gone up appreciably. that is what i think is not panicking people yet, but depressing people. where are the opportunities? it's not about the numbers. it's about the reality of day to day life and how people feel they're doing. and right now americans don't feel all that good about how well they're doing. host: to answer the caller's other question about the current unemployment rate, bureau of labor statistics has total employment increased by 150,000 in october and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.9% and here is a chart showing that over time, the unemployment rate changed little in october. however since the recent lows in

april, these measures are up by .5% and almost 850,000 respectively. now let's hear from richard in greenville, texas, on our independent line. go ahead, richard. caller: yes, i just wanted to say that i wish a lot of people would keep their comments a lot shorter. i think the problem if we could get rid of this electoral or however you say it -- host: electoral college? caller: yes, get rid of that and do the popular vote. problem solved. thank you very much. host: adam, any response to that? guest: i like the fact richard lived up to his promise to keep it short. yeah, there has been a healthy debate in the past, still is today about whether or not the electoral college is right, fair in today's world. legitimate question versus the popular vote. but the thing about the vote that is most concerning and why in my opinion and the opinion of

many the greatest threats to democracy is our level of trust in the vote, and it's at historic lows. for out of 10 democratic voters never believed that hillary clinton legitimately lost to donald trump in 2016, more than that number legitimately believed in their opinion that donald trump was not defeated by joe biden in 2020. that's the thing i worley ry -- worry about the most. if the idea of one person, one vote and the valid of that and the integrity of that is always going to be questioned moving forward, we have a lot bigger issues than the electoral college to resolve. host: roger is in raleigh, income district north carolina, on our republican line. host: good morning. i was a -- caller: good morning. i was a trump voter but i will not vote for him again. i think he has disgraced himself in my mind and i am afraid that

a lot of fellow republicans are listening to the wrong information out there and i wish more -- i shouldn't say wish more were like me but i wish more people would be -- have more common sense on this whole issue. i am afraid he has made a mockery of the judicial system with the way that he is trying to get his cases tried in the media and i guess my question for you is, the polling to me is disheartening as far as trump's popularity. i wish either a third party candidate would come up or that joe biden would step aside and let a younger, more center of the road candidate run. i just wondered how much do you believe these polling at this point and do you think that could change in another direction? host: before we let adam respond, i am curious if trump

becomes the republican nominee, what will you do? caller: i will not vote democratic, but i will vote for someone who is more in line with my philosophy of how i feel like the country should be run. host: adam, do you want to respond? guest: thank you for asking the follow-up kimberly. which way do you go? that's the big question. what is the alternative to a joe biden-donald trump race? i mean, you may say, well, i'd like kennedy or i like cornell west or if he runs joe manchin. i like them better than i do the top two nominees, but what a way to vote when you think about it, that we are going to end up with a good percentage of americans who will go for neither the republican or democrat. they're going to go third party but they're not all in love with

the third party either. they're just expressing their frustration. if that number is a big enough number, i think that could begin, just begin a sea change in politics where it's no longer good enough to say i am going to choose among the lesser of two evils as opposed to can we just for a change actually be passionate about voting for someone and for something? and i think that is what a third party, successful third party movement would engender and what i refer to as a monopolistic system between republicans and democrats that's been this play for a very, very long time. host: just a few minutes left. let's have kyle in clearwater, florida, democratic line. caller: hi there. i would like to add on to this republican identity crisis. i feel like because of trump's popularity which is obviously amazingly strong even after all

that's happened, but to boot the trump voter believes in a lot of things that aren't true, that aren't facts and they're really not able to convince them. so i am kind of interested what happens to the republican party, which is pretty much let trump be trump because we can't -- we need his control of the party and that's the only way to win, but what do you think happens to the republican party, one if he win and the other if he loses? what will the republican identity come back? host: adam, do you want to respond to that? guest: i have been thinking long and hard about that question. i grew up as a fan of george herbert walker bush, george w. bush, ronald reagan, here in florida the caller from clearwater is a big fan of jeb bush, mainstream conservatives who were the mainstream of the party for a very long time.

that's not in play right now. and i am concerned about it. i think the party should not be a reflection of one person. it should be a reflection of people sharing common philosophies, and we talked a lot over many years about using the words big tent. we want the big tent where everyone is welcome. i am concerned that in the republican party and even to an extent in the democratic party for different reasons, the big tent is not alive and well. it's if you check these boxes, you are welcome to come in. and if you don't, come back tomorrow. so that's not good for the country. it's not good to say any party is either dominated by an individual or dominated by kind of a red line litmus test that says you are either going to be this and believe in this or you are not welcome. that's not i think good or healthy for america.

host: next up virginia on the independent line. hi there. can you go ahead? caller: yes. i will mute my television. host: thank you. caller: yes. i would like to ask adam why has the republican party so prejudiced against people of color? i am 83 years old and -- host: adam is not a public employee. he is a republican strategist. do you mean him specifically or people in the public sector? caller: people of color period because i am 83 years old and i have experienced it all through my life that the republican party is not recognize people of color as a person. i can't understand that. i will take my question off the air. host: thank you.

adam, do you want to respond to that about the republican party's challenges with people of color? guest: thank you for the question. that's another one of the questions that i wrestle with frankly, why republicans don't do better with african-americans. i just don't understand that because there is a lot of symmetry in terms of the cultural front, on some of the economic fronts, in terms of faith and yet republicans consistently underperform. i do a show every week and i had on the show recently byron donalds who is the second term congressman from the southwestern part of florida, who is a new member, one of the new members of congress, and i asked him that question about why is it that republicans don't do better with african-americans? and he said it bothers him a little bit and yet it's not bred

or born out of prejudice. it's more out of just not having a long experience on the political front and embracing the interests of african-americans and african-americans embracing the message of rbs. i -- republicans. i hope that evolve because republicans have made dramatic gains among hispanics, dramatic gains geographically in parts of the country where it was least expected, but i think there is a lot of ground to be made up there and i hope and to the caller's question, i hope there can be more of an open embrace following an open discussion, where parties are not categorized and limited by demographics or race or creed or age or gender, but really are reflections of common interests leading to a common movement, to a common purpose. host: that's all the time we have for now. thank you so much, adam goodman, a republican strategist and columnist. i appreciate your time this

morning. guest: thank you. host: wonderful. so we will have in about 30 minutes here on "washington journal" progressive commentator cenk uygur discussing why he is running against joe biden for the democratic nomination for president. but first we are going to have more of your phone calls and open forum, your chance to weigh in on any political or public policy issue that's on your mind this morning. you can start calling in now. our democratic number is 202-748-8000. republicans on 202-748-8001. independents on 202-748-8002. and we will be right back. ♪ >> kick start your holiday shopping season with c-span, during our black friday sale going on now. save up to 30% on apparel, accessories, home decor, and

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throughout the day and weekdays at 5:00 p.m. eastern catch washington today for a fast paced report on stories of the day. listen to c-span anytime. tell your smart speaker play c-span radio. c-span pow ird by -- powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. we are here in open forum where you can call to weigh in with your thoughts on any political or policy news that you are interested in discussing today. our numbers for democrats are 202-748-8000, for republicans 202-748-8001, and independents 202-748-8002. let's go ahead and get directly to your calls. first we have raymond in north carolina on our republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i have been looking at what is going on in the country so much, and the fact that the democrats

are not voting more for donald trump, it kind of bewilders me because donald trump is the only one talking about the issues that are going on. really they're bringing the people over the borders into the cities and taking jobs from african-americans. here is the thing. the democrats have allowed the destruction of the inner cities where these people live and destroyed the economy in there. so the people -- a lot of them try to take a chance and deal drugs and stuff like that just to get the money because there is no job opportunities because they allowed all this looting to go on. i don't understand it. nobody is talking about the genocide going on, hundreds of people being shot every single weekend in these cities like chicago or something like that

and the answer the chicago mayor has is well, maybe we can ask the drug dealers to only shoot people during the middle of the night. what the heck is going on? another thing i am thinking about doing -- people need to -- maybe we need to print copies of the constitution in spanish. these people need to understand why -- what the republican experience is about and why they came here because they're trying to create a situation where the government is going to be the kind of government that they left, the dream, the american dream they came here for is going away because of the democratic party wants to control the people and they want to just basically overhaul the republic into a socialist -- what they call a socialist utopia. this is a global movement. it's not just an american movement. it's a global movement and to overthrow and