host: good morning, this is washington journal on tuesday, december 26. we would like for you today to tell us what do you think is the

biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024. from the culture wars domestically to international conflict, from climate change to abortion policy. we want to hear your thoughts. so here are the numbers to go ahead and start calling in. republicans call us at 202-748-8001. democrats, your line is 202-748-8000. if you are an independent we want you to call us at 202-748-8002. you can also send us a text message. 202-748-8003. please include your name and where you live. you can also find us on facebook.com/c-span and on x at c-span wj. let's start with headlines from today's newspapers.

i want to show you the first page of usa today from this morning and top of the folded says biden administration focuses on a1. i will read a little bit from the article. it says artificial told and prepared the nation for disastrous weather events, root out fraud and tax cheats, speedup benefit determinations, enforce workforce safety rules and even find illegal rhino horns. this cutting edge technology also undermines privacy discrimination industry -- erode trust and create public safety risks. but now the federal government has become a cooper proving ground for whether rapidly advancing artificial intelligence which president biden has called the most consequential technology of our time would be or even can be embraced by an increasingly wary public.

that's from this morning's usa today on artificial intelligence , i also want to bring up this morning's new york times. the front page of the new york times a little bit down page four toward the center, the headline is netanyahu visits gaza after deadly airstrikes. this is some of the latest dispatches from gaza and israel's war with hamas. the article reads prime minister benjamin netanyahu visited israeli troops in the gaza strip on monday, vowing to stay the course of war even with the death toll mounting. the trip came hours after gaza health officials reported a devastating overnight strike on a crowded neighborhood had killed dozens. it was his second known visit to gaza since the war began. mr. netanyahu has been facing

increasing pressure from the u.s. to lower the intensity of the war. but he said on monday that israel would deepen the fighting in the coming days. that's from this morning's new york times. we want to hear from you. what do you think is the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024. as a reminder thosphone lines, republican 202-748-8001. democrat 202-748-8000. inpendents 202-748-8002 you can also send us a text message, 202-748-8003. let's start in cocoa, florida. dunkin is on the republican line. what's the biggest threat in your eyes? caller: i was watching yesterday and i believe the biggest threat facing america right now is the lack of religiosity.

i was trying to call yesterday. i am a roman catholic and is a devout catholic i know the greatest threat is how blind and how people are lacking religion, especially the correct religion. for many reasons. >> why do you -- tell me why you think that is such a big threat? why is that such an important thing for people to embrace. >> the whole purpose of religion is to know who we are but most of all how to worship god properly. as a good catholic i know jesus and the apostles talk about the catholic church in the first century. and i was so upset by hearing with the caller said yesterday on yesterday's subject. >> we appreciate your call this

morning, let's hear from jim in highland park, new jersey. >> yes, first of all mary christmas and happy new year. it's the second day of christmas. host: merry christmas. caller: thank you for taking my phone call. i believe that the threat -- the greatest threat is domestic strife. if we cannot get together and come to an agreement and work in a normal fashion, manner, then democracy here in the united states will fail. >> bill is next in northcross,

georgia. caller: good morning. also welcome to the second day of christmas. i feel very strongly that the worst threat we have today in this country i agree with a lot of other callers is the fact that the christian right, who determined and what happens there is they are at war with our democracy. they are trying to control every aspect of this country and all the way back to the last 30 years they gained ground by using people as what you might say puppets to try and get this message that if you are not -- i guess you might say a christian

nationalist or don't support the new are un-american. this is the problem. this is what clouds all of these , driving what happened there the capitol. people such as trump and some of his colleagues they take advantage of these people. these people don't know better. they believe trump as their savior and they believe he came here. this is what's destroying this country. if we can prevent that from happening we might have a chance of saving democracy and freedom for everyone. freedom from religion. freedom of religion. that's the biggest problem we face in my opinion today. that's where it starts. host: let's go to the republican line. gordon in plant city florida. caller: the biggest threat in my

opinion is you have these liberal rhinos, before i go any further i want to say i interviewed -- in my interviews posted on my website should you wanted. i found her to be a true christian who cares about students. when they were in congress for hundreds of years republicans held the house, they refused to obey the republican platform reduce or eliminate student loan and said blaming high school students. i made fun of dr. fox to her face and said are you telling me if the student loan bankruptcy bill would be wrong but force the department down and i said are you calling ralph norman and glenn liberals because we support student loan bankruptcies. and to her credit dr. fox looked me in the face and told me in the interview, it's on my

youtube and my website she said she would consider hr 5899 from the 116th which had more republicans and 2598. but she still hasn't come around and i would like to ask dr. fox and ask in -- why when republicans have the house -- over 2 trillion student debt they did not reduce or eliminate student loan origination as page 35 of their public and platform says and instead ralph norman was a cosponsor of that student loan bankruptcy bill. i would like to find out from him what his reasoning for that is. host: i'm going to stop you there. we appreciate your call this morning. we will move on to paul in lexington, kentucky. democratic line.

>> good morning. i thought it was interesting we started off with the threat facing our nation, whether it was abortion or wars or religion. the callers have called in on the same vein as i. what i think is the biggest threat facing our nation today is funding competent and capable leaders for our nation. we are getting our leaders -- whether it's the house or the executive or the senate. we are a nation hungry for leadership that are ready to bring things back to the center.

i don't care which party you are, bring them back to the center and have a working america. and people appreciating the need to be cohesive and work together. united we stand, divided we fall. >> way no one of the big issues that have come up often in 2023 was the issue of border security. i want to -- this is an article from the new york times, the headline more migrants on terrorism watch list prompt the u.s. border. an increasing number of migrants arrested at the southern border over the past year are on the united states terrorist watchlist according to government data from october of last year this september, officials of the southern border arrested 169 people whose names

match those on the watchlist. and 15 in 2021 according to government data. that's a minuscule fraction of the total number of migrants who were apprehended at the border over the past year. again that's from the new york times. for a little bit of context, this also brings up from -- some video. border security was also a major focus in a really tense house homeland security committee hearing back in november. the homeland security secretary was questioned by lawmakers during that hearing. [video clip] >> there was an austin swat officer who killed -- who was killed in my hometown on the terror watch list. the swat officer murdered by

someone on the terror watch list and the family involved. do you have information about this? >> mr. chairman we would be pleased to provide you with whatever information we have. >> please do. 18 usc, states whoever commits an offense against the united states or aids and abets command or procures its commission is punishable as the principal. human trafficking a criminal enterprise with people of no legal status and an entire population seven times over killed by fentanyl, 12 billion total, 300,000 people dead due to fentanyl. i would argue you have been aiding and abetting the deaths and the criminal enterprise that

has occurred in this nation. >> i asked to yield just to respond to something that my distinguished colleague from texas just said, who i know has served for a long time as a federal prosecutor as have i and has sec. mayorkas. i think it's dangerous to accuse the secretary of aiding and abetting crimes as you well know . you have the intent to do that and it is clear but whether you disagree or not with the secretaries approach to dealing with the border, that to accuse him of aiding and abetting crime is very serious and i think is unwarranted in this situation. >> will the gentle neil? >> yes. >> i live in a border state, you do not. i've dealt with this issue for

25 years. i've never seen it this bad. it is his dereliction of duty that has created this problem in the united states. 7 million people, how will we deal with that? no legal status, human trafficking. we will disagree on this one. but i have to say that the change in policy as created this problem. and he knows better. he was the u.s. attorney of los angeles. he knows better. >> before we get back to your phone calls on today's question let's read a few of the responses we are receiving on social media. derek says the biggest threat facing the u.s. is domestic terrorism. elton brown on facebook, of huge step we have is the biggest threat facing america.

partisan hatred that's dividing us we will divide each other and fail as a nation. a house divided cannot exist. deb johnson on x-ray corrupted government officials at the highest level. we want to hear more from you. what do you think is the biggest threat facing the u.s.n 2024. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats 202-748-8000. independent 202-748-8002. next up is bob in dallas, texas. independent line. what are your thoughts? >> unquestionably the greatest danger for our society is white supremacy. that is basically housed in the gop. >> elaborate why you think

that's the biggest threat to the u.s.. >> because they are the majority of the population. and the grand old party is riddled with white supremacists. >> thank you for your call. let's go to another bob. this one is in toms river, new jersey. publican line. caller: good morning. i think everybody, they have more vacations and picnics than anybody in the world. there should be a term limit for anybody. anybody goes into congress and comes out 12 years later look and see how much money they made and where it all went.

they are stealing and robbing. we work for jobs, they leave three weeks early. they don't want to show up. don't show up to floor votes, you are out. they have to work 300 days a year. 12 hours a day to straighten this country out because in another 10 years there will be a civil war in here and this country will be a complete disaster. i'm retiring i'm going to an island somewhere. to live my life. i'm 62. they're letting all these countries run over us. close the borders to everybody. we don't need anybody in this country. close the planes, close everybody. host: got your point, bob. we will move on to florida, nina

on the democrats line. caller: mary christmas. our threat -- there's a lot of threats but i heard on the news this morning that the donald trump on his christmas message told everyone to rot in hell yesterday. those people and i'll that want to be first in everything and their supposedly christian should denounce his tweet and we have got a problem with these republicans and democrats up there in washington. i think we need to do all do overs and get rid of the iowa caucuses because they are not christians to put up with that stuff. america i hope turns itself around and we start loving each other again. thank you. host: nina just mentioned those

comments that former president trump made on christmas. here's a writeup of those articles in the hill. let's see what he said. it's that former president trump in an unusual christmas message on truth social called for various people he sees as looking to destroy the nation to "rot in hell. it was one of several christmas messages on the former president preferred social media platform going after president biden, special counsel jack smith and other political opponents. that's a little bit of a write up from the hill on messages that former president trump posted on social media on christmas day. we want to hear more of your calls. stephen you are up next in west palm beach, florida. >> good morning.

this is something that's going to be difficult for people to understand. i'm an investor all over the world. on four continents. the thing that i see that is the biggest problem is that the right-wing parties are no longer righwing anymore. they don't follow any libertarian principles anymore. and because they are trapped by the systems that they run in, that are all basically social democratic systems. they can espouse the economic freedom of the individualism so on and so forth. because everybody is already depending on the government as we know, the government at all levels in the united states represents between 42 and 47% of the overall economy depending on

the state you live in. so what that means is if they cut the government spending at all it will create a recession in their districts. this is going on everywhere. this is causing tremendous problems for right-wing parties. in canada, the tories in the united kingdom, it happened with theresa may doing everything she could to stop her exit even though her own car -- own party condoned. in australia with malcolm turnbull who was eventually defeated. you have this tremendous conflict inside the party and what are they left with? what can they run on. things like benghazi and hunter biden, that's it. that's all they can do. until the right-wing starts to have faith again in the individual, the rugged individualism, they are not going to get anywhere and the

democrats in canada, the liberals or the u.k. are just going to be running amok continuing to grow the government and daring the right to remove it. host: all right stephen. we have beverly on the republican line from georgia. caller: how are you? host: going well, beverly. caller: the question was was the biggest threat to the united states right now. in 2024. i will say we've got two things. not just from mexico but all over. they come in from many different ports. we don't have a chance to find out who they are, whether they are terrorists, just an ordinary joe looking for a better life. we don't have the time to do that.

in the second one would be trump. donald trump coming back into office. his latest message was just -- just another example of what he's going to be like. what he is like. . people vote him in. we are screwed. many people when he comes in to office many people are prepared to leave this country and go to another one. because he's already said what he's can it do. and nobody wants to live underneath a dictator's regime. and the fact one of the biggest ones is we've given so much money to other countries and helped stoke them. i'm all for ukraine fighting

back if they can. but the thing is we don't have enough stockpiles in our country should we be attacked. in order to win. those are the three that i feel are the biggest in this country right now. >> beverly did mention foreign wars in ukraine specifically. here's is an article from the washington post, the headline zelenskyy says russia made no military gains in 2023 expresses faith in the u.s.. we will read a little bit of the article. it says ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy facing international disputes at home, said tuesday that military commanders had advised him ukraine will need to mobilize another half million troops next year. if it helps to stop russia's continuing invasion.

zelenskyy answering wide-ranging questions at a year-end news conference also acknowledge that the country was running out of artillery shells and conceded a counteroffensive had not yielded the hope for results and pushing back the russian forces occupying 1/5 of ukraine's territory. again that's in the washington post. a little bit of context about the state of ukraine's war with russia. democratic line. caller: good morning. happy holidays. i'm going to come out a little bit. i think her biggest threat and this is kind of a nonpartisan comment in his information and where we get our information. how we dissect information and how we learn about and nations

that are threatening us. when i was in college back in the 70's. i had a sociology class and we were discussing alvin topol or and he wrote a book called future shock. and he said. she was considered a futurist. over time over the years we would become so technologically consumed in our world that information would be coming at us so quickly and so rapidly that the flooding of imagery coming back we would just not be able to process all that. i think we are starting to see that in relation to how we view

issues in the world. we don't trust each other. the source is giving us information. is this right about the pandemic, climate change. electric cars. is this right about the war in ukraine. how we are breaking all of this down and how we are figuring out the truth for all of us has become a very difficult and convoluted issue. i think a lot of people having an easy time on information systems to their advantage and to their political advantage. we are just not processing. i think that's why we are so looking at things in such a disparate way. host: appreciate your call this morning. a lot of callers have talked

about the partisan divides in america. i want to show an article by the associated press, the headline americans agree the 2024 election will be pivotal for democracy but for different reasons. the article says in a politically polarized nation american seem to agree on one issue underlying the election, a worry over the state of democracy and outcomes will affect its future pray they just agree to disagree over who poses a threat. 52% of adults say democracy in the u.s. could be at risk depending on who wins in -- next fall. the majority of democrats, 72% and republicans, 55% feel the same way for different reasons.

i want to show this chart, it is kind of a big chart. if you think about the gray is all u.s. adults, the bluest democrats, the red is republicans. for example the top line, the question is saying the outcome of the 2024 presidential election will be extremely or very important for the economy. republicans far more than democrats say the economy -- the future of democracy in the united states, democrats way more than republican say the election will be consequential for that. government spending is the next one. you've republican saying the election will be much more consequential compared to democrats on government spending, a border security, another one with a big divide as far as the impact of the election. abortion policy, more democrats

think the election will be consequential on abortion policy compared to republicans. let's see another one, crime, republicans far outweigh democrats in saying this election will be consequential according regarding crime. issues around race and ethnic city and climate change much more democrats. there's a partisan divide and want to bring up another video. this one is an exchange between republican senator john cornyn and fbi director chris ray at a recent hearing on fbi reform and they discuss the rule of law. >> starting with some basic concepts. you walk into the supreme court of the united states over the arches in the entryway are inscribed the words equal justice under law.

i think there is a perception unfortunately that we are not living up to that ideal in number of respects. senator whitehouse mentioned the shameful treatment of hillary clinton, someone who i do not support from a political standpoint but was subjected to the release of derogatory information of an investigation that director comey and the fbi and up -- conducted involving her and the fact usurping the authority of the attorney general when it comes to charging decisions and made the statement he did. i think there's also a perception that president trump was not treated fairly during his time of office particularly because of opposition research, things like the steel dossier, the russia gate investigation. all of which ended up in

basically amounting to no charges being filed. i want to just say personally i appreciate your willingness to take on important tasks of restoring and rebuilding the reputation of the fbi, i believe the fbi is an indispensable institution in our government but it's also a big unwieldy institution. i think you have about 35,000 people who work at the fbi. i'm personally convinced that overwhelmingly these are good patriotic hard-working, people sacrificing putting themselves in harm's way in order to protect the rest of america. but like any other large organization there will be some bad apples.

people who abuse trust and who misbehave. can you just take a minute to describe what steps that you have undertaken at the fbi to try and restore the fbi's reputation as an institution that the american people to pursue equal justice under the law. >> i appreciate the question, let me start with a statement of support that i hold near and dear and then explain more what that means. my message from day one and probably said every day since i've been in the job is that we do not need to make ash we need to make sure we are doing the right thing in the right way in everything we do. that means the important process of following our rules. it does not mean and sometimes this is frustrating to people of all shapes and stripes, it does not mean we can guarantee the result or the outcome that someone would like in a case. so how do i implement that principle?

i have directed all sorts of changes in relation to the crossfire hurricane matter for example. in that one manner alone i directed over 40 corrective measures and going above and beyond and if implemented dozens of changes since then. >> again that was the fbi director christopher wray in a senate judiciary hearing. talking about restoring trust in the fbi on the rule of law. i want to read some of the responses we received on social media and via text message. frank saying he is from or writin that the democrat elites such as biden and other ultraleft communist liberal democrats are america's biggest threat and from within. saying i see the widening gap between rich and poor. of dissolving the middle class.

warren norwood of massachuses writes the biggest threat is an unwillingness of millis otherwise good americans to call out a cult leader 45 for ate is. he is unfit to lead. mike in illinois, another text message says hands-down the biggest threat to this country is intelligence agen as in the fbi infiltrating all of bankingetail. giving out to billionaires where the fbi can insert and invade themselves in more than a citizens real life. the biggest threat, this is ian from florida the biggesthat in 2024's american imperialism. our nation has turned into the thing we ran away fm to form a new nation and these are wrapped around the neck of every civilian on this globe. those are some of the text

messages social media responses. we are going back to the phone lines now. our question is what is the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024. republicans we want you to call us. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. with that we will go to john in michigan on the independent line. >> good morning. >> what are your thoughts? >> i'm 60 years old and i'm kind of old school at this stage in life. what i perceive is the deception, the lies and the lack of moral values that we have in this country anymore. and the dumbing down if you will of our schoolchildren. they are being taught, not even

being taught the basics. i understand now that a lot of school systems don't even teach cursive anymore. we don't allow our kids to think for themselves. in other words teach them to go out and do the research on different issues and problems that we have. we want to create robots it seems to me. also our lack of encouraging children to be hard workers and to go out and make the american dream on their own. and also when you talk about a lie told once is a lie. but a lie repeated 1000 times becomes the truth. those are just some of the thoughts i have. host: let's go to belleville,

illinois. doug is calling on the republican line. caller: sorry. guest: doug? you are on, can you hear us? all right we are going to have to let doug go. let's try ramona in georgia. democrat line. caller: i feel really blessed that you're are receiving my phone call and i believe one of the threats is empowerment and i want to thank brian lamb and his staff. have a happy new year and i'm 62 years old.

i've been called impoverished because i want -- i'm on a fixed income. brian lamb and you guys, c-span, i'm a mediocre black woman, not much education. i listen to c-span. you all empowered me. i feel empowered because i listen to you guys and get educated. like the hamas, i learned a lot about the hamas and israel and my take on that is the hamas is -- with palestine. and israel feels they have to eradicate the whole palestine hamas gaza because they can't tell the difference between the hamas and the palestine because they are intertwined so tough

like that. i bring that back home. they were talking about -- the white supremacists are like in the police and they are killing a lot of black men with traffic stops. and they don't know how to find the white supremacists because they are intertwined in the white caucasian population. when they're both together i kind of understand the same scenario. can you cross-reference as were supposed to be the up enemy of the country that they can look up to. do any of them say you should stop killing and genocide of the black men. we don't agree with how they are

being killed. these traffic stop send unlawful invasions. is anybody talking -- host: i'm get stop you there. we appreciate your call. i want to tell you brian lamb is actually watching. i saw him come into the office so i'm sure he appreciates your kind thoughts about c-span and washington journal and how it helps educate you every day. we appreciate your call this morning. let's go to district -- go to detroit now. michael is calling on the independent line. caller: and the same to you. host: michael? caller: can you hear me? host: now i can, you went out a

little bit. caller: good morning. i think our biggest problem in this country and has been since the inception is morality. it is morality. since the inception of this country. there is a documentary on hbo called extermination of the brutes. when europeans came to this country it was 100 million indigenous people. after 100 years, 90% of them were eliminated. that's a genocide. they talk about the genocide that's happening around the world in the middle east, what happens in other countries.

i just think we have a problem with morality. they say this is in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness which was that idea was basically for a certain group of people. it wasn't for everybody. and it wasn't for the people that they brought over here as slaves. so until we get our morality together any time that you can nominate a guy who owned the casino, the queen of england eliminated gambling because of the effect it had on poor people. if you would've told people 50 years ago that they would be rallying around a guy who owned the casino and this guy had

dubious business operations, that this would be a hero in this country, that is an ethical problem. we have a problem with justice. the lady who just spoke talking about the treatment of minorities. last but not least i want to talk about immigration. they talk about immigration. a lot of your callers saying there's too many immigrants coming here. why would these immigrants, and if people are not giving them jobs. and the people giving them jobs are the people having the most effect on our country. that's the upper and the rich. host: got your point. appreciate your call. let's hear from mike now on the republican line in seminole,

florida. caller: good morning. the biggest threat facing the united states is joe biden. joe biden and his open borders. it's ridiculous. the men and women of the armed services were killed in afghanistan, of equipment left behind. the mercenaries left behind that helped us in that war. the war in ukraine fall on joe biden's feet. the war and israel falls on joe biden's feet because all he does is show the world weakness. this would never happen under donald trump and it only takes a fifth-grader to figure it out. one thing i like about watching this show is listening to all the stupidity. may god bless you and god bless donald j. trump. host: let's go to the democratic line now. judy is calling from milford,

virginia. caller: i'm calling from florida. host: sorry about that. from florida. caller: i disagree 100% with the gentleman saying how great donald trump is. i think the biggest threat to our country is donald trump. i think since he became president he's caused more divisiveness, more hatred, more violence in our country. i think he's a big ole. he's going to take his ball and go home. if you don't agree with them, -- i think the biggest thing -- the best thing donald trump could do for our country is bow out. that's all i have to say. >> jesus is our next caller from broadway, new york on her independent line. caller: i just wanted to talk

about something -- i know a lot of people are on the line. >> i'll let you know when it's time to go so i would be as concise as you can. caller: the thing i wanted to talk about was the biggest thing in this country i think is the problem is social media because the term social when it comes to media is a bit of a problem for me. the word social dictates the belief social participation to input facts into the community and i think that's what's a threat. i respect the media. the definition is supposed to dispel facts that aren't true so that people can recognize what is the truth. but social media in itself is trying to change that.

i haven't been in america for like 20 years so i've been abroad. the media portray's the middle east in a different way than the truth. i've been to the middle east and see how the people are there. t time it's overblown through social media. i think that's a big problem. host: donald calling from michigan city, indiana on the republican line. caller: i'm so glad to be able to talk just a little bit about what i feel the real threat is to america. not only america but the world. and the fact we need to be born again. in the peace of god.

there is a lot of problems here in the world but we just went through christmas and i haven't heard anyone talk about jesus christ. and what he did for all of us. he laid his life down and he rose again by the power of god through our faith we can have peace of god, the righteousness of god in our hearts. that's the biggest threat to america and the world is anti-god and antichrist. they don't want god and are just wallowing in their problems. but god himself said in the word of god we will humble ourselves and pray, seek god for the solution in answer to the worlds problems. i just wanted to share that with everybody. >> one of the issues that

usually comes up a lot but we haven't heard it mentioned as much this morning is the economy. i want to show you this morning's wall street journal front page and there's a chart on the front page under the headline inflation pulls back. it says around the globe inflation is slowing faster than expected. it could be back to normal levels next year. in this chart the top line is u.k., the middle line is the eurozone, the darkest line is the u.s.. this is that the beginning of the year. and it's showing how inflation has gone down throughout 2023. inflation has cooled off considerably from the u.s. line

about 7% at the beginning of the year down to about 3% or so by the end of the year. the wall street journal front page, i want to read a few more of the comments we received on social media as well. this is a text message from dave in orlando, florida which says there are many opinions about the greatest threats. we are verdided to accuse everyone of everything and the hate among us is horribl where do we start. ray trenton writes the potential of a hot world war with china, russia, etc.. or some threat that has not yet been manifested. annettsthenson writes propaganda is the biggest that. we are bombarded by so much targeted misinformation daily

it's extremely difficult to find the truth. again a few more responses we received on social media but we want to take more of your calls on the biggest threat of 2024. republicans, call us at 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents,. -- independents, 202-748-8002. marine is calling from st. thomas, virgin islands. caller: i think the biggest threat to america. the first point is that we are no longer democracy because we have senators who have been in office longer than our constitution allows. i hope john roberts junior is listening because only he has the authority to correct the

issue. our constitution only allows senators in the senate two years of a seven year span. you have senators who have been there for 30 or 40 years. how are they not in rebellion against the united states. how are they defending the cries of the united states people and protecting your interest. they are pushing immorality. you want to homeschool your child now, you are doing some type of harm to them. that's number one. let me let you guys know what donald trump is actually done and can be checked. april 30, 2019, a presidential archive which is a log that literally liberated under the eyes of the united states, --

constitution and its reflection of all african americans in the united states. that is not known within the general united states public because i guess he had been vilified because we are now -- not all crooked. we need not make this about -- we need to look at his record and what he has done. i can prove from my docket that i even instituted on december 20 of 2020 with 3 million votes that all went to donald trump. not even my vote -- i was denied my right. host: i'm good to stop you right there. we have to go on to our next caller, marcia in texas, republican line. what's the biggest threat in your eyes? >> i'm not an educated person

but i can speak firsthand, i'm from venezuela and became a citizen. venezuela is absolutely host: keep on going. >> i left with my two babies and we became citizens. china is in bed with venezuela. china is in bed with every body. but nobody really is listening to the fact that china is laughing with the government here in the u.s.. they are acting like they are friends but as soon as they turned their backs on them. look at all close cuba is to the united states.

it's just frustrating because the democrats and the african-american democrats, which i don't want to be called a racist because my children, from a biracial family. it's just that they need to read the history of what is going on through the years. the democrats have been the ones who have kept the black people down and trying to make them think that the white people, us republicans are racist. it's not true. the democrats are there worst enemy. >> we will go to dennis in wolfe city, texas. caller: first time, a long time.

my concern is donald trump in 2024. if he gets elected there will be no 40th president. also he bragged about everything he did while in office. he promised affordable health care. not one bill has been passed on affordable health care while donald trump was in office. he had the senate and house for two years. he bragged about building a wall. he built 50 miles of wall. that was allocated prior to donald trump. he used obama's money to pay for that wall. another thing that bothers me is lindsey graham in 2020 told us that if a supreme court justice needed electing during that time from november to january they would not do it, the republicans would not do it. they rush coney barrett so fast through the congress is ridiculous.

why doesn't somebody go back and ask lindsey graham, mark my words, roll tape. thank you and that's all i have to say. >> if you did not get through we will come back to our question later on in the show. but first, when we come back from this break, our weeklong series featuring authors from across the political spectrum continues this morning with former ohio democratic party chair and his book called saving democracy, a user's manual for every american after the break. >> tv's -- book tv's afterwards is in primetime, a program where -- authors are interviewed.

former united airlines ceo and chair australian euros with his book -- chair oscar munoz with his book "turnaround time." he is interviewed by usa today reported. watch on c-span. go to c-span.org to get the complete schedule. weeknights at 9:00 >> eastern -- >> weeknights at 9:00 p.m. eastern, --key pieces of literature that have had an impact on our country. today we will future "my antonia ." our guest is melissa hallstead, english professor at university of nebraska lincoln. watch the encore presentation of "books that shaped america"

wednesday night. go to c-span.org/bookstha tshapedamerica. >> c-span's campaign to attitude before coverage continues with the presidential primary and caucasus. watch live on the c-span network at the first votes are cast in the upcoming election along with candidate speeches and results, beginning with the iowa caucuses on january 15 and the new hampshire primary on january 23. campaign 2024 on c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> a healthy democracy does not just look like this, it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. citizens are truly informed. our public thrives.

it informed straight from -- get informed straight from the source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word from the nation's capital to wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. c-span, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are continuing our showcase of authors across the political spectrum. joining us is david pepper, the former chair of the ohio democratic party. we are going to discuss his book. the title is "saving democracy: a user's manual for every american." good morning, david. thank you for joining us. guest: great to be with you. host: great to have you. let's start off with the book. you compare in the book the struggle for democracy to other

fights in our history such as the fight for civil rights, women's suffrage. can you explain how the current climate compares to those fights in the past? guest: since the civil rights era, and a lot of americans have begun to take democracy for granted. we assume it is a speakers -- it is safe because we are the united states. because of that and because of how it has gotten, my worry has become -- i wrote this before the 2024 cycle so it is not only about the next presidential race. i worry that what we are not seeing is that our democracy itself is at risk for a variety of reasons. one reason is we look at politics as being only a two year cycle.

we have a short-term mindset when it comes to politics. when you realize that the battle we are in is not just about a few senate races. it is actually a battle for democracy itself. that is a battle that starts with statehouses and other state-level positions across the country. once you realize the battle is for democracy, you realize we are in long battle. it is not only about a few swing states. i tried to show people that you are in the same position now and you need to think about the way you engage and try to protect democracy, as a john lewis work. they saw it as a battle they had to wage every day. they saw it as a battle they had to wage everywhere. john lewis did not just try to win a couple senate seats in a few states.

he knew what he was engaged in was bigger than that. he also did not stop fighting after november 8 and think the election is over, now i am going to take a break before the next election. he knew he was bigger, it was longer. if you look at what is happening in america, with gerrymandering, almost every election is guaranteed from the outset, or the censoring of books or the violent rhetoric your hearing, or judicial orders being ignored, if you see the things happening, we would say to americans, that is not a democracy. a lot of those things are happening right now in the u.s.. we should see it as the alarm it is to a healthy democracy and fight back accordingly as opposed to thinking this is

usual politics. it is not. we are reaching an alarming point of a lot of abnormal things getting normalized. that is why i try to say to folks, think of the battle of politics not as some parts about every two years, but a broader battle for democracy. once you see that, you fight for democracy more effectively than if all you do is think about it as a battle for a few swing states. host: i went to give our viewers the numbers to call in. this is author david pepper who has written a book titled "saving democracy: a user's manual for every american." if you have a question for him or a comment about politics or the state of democracy, we want you to start calling in now. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000.

independents, 202-748-8002. we will get to your calls in just a moment. there is an excerpt from your book that has a bleak assessment. i am good to read it. it's is beyond the halls of government, signs of authoritar are emerging in american society more broadly. armed intimidation,ionce and domest trorism, nationalism and nativism, active an repeated this information, corruption, antiism, white supremacy, other forms of extremism, and much of it being mainstreamed and normalized. this is not occurring in faraway foreign capitals, it is not the american south in the 1880's and 1890's when the kkk emerged to destroy the new democracy ushered iny construction.

this is a view of american politics in state after state and in the nation's capital today. that is a bleak assessment. i think a lot of people say american democracy was able to overcome jim crow, it was able to sustain itself even through those moments. why should we not be confident american democracy can withstand the current culture wars and political climate? do you think that is the right or wrong assessment? guest: i am glad you asked that. the title of my book is about saving democracy. i am an optimist. i don't think we will save it unless we see the problem. the entire book is about all the things anyone listening can do to start playing a role to turn things around. some of the history is horrible.

some of the damage was done for decades. at the same time, there are things we can do right now if we see the problem clearly. if we do not see the problem, then i worry. if we see it individually, the reason i wrote this book is whether it is running for office or school board were engaging voters or becoming an elections official, or making sure your school board is not censoring history, the treat -- the truth is there is much more we can do. over the last year, many of these things have been bipartisan. we have seen a winning streak for democracy since i wrote this book. i am sitting in ohio, in cincinnati, i am very proud of my hometown. there was an effort to censor democracy. they tried to raise the

threshold to amend our constitution to 60%. politicians in columbus did not want a majority of ohioans to amend their constitution. they tried to undermine our democracy and republicans, democrats, and independents came together on a special election and said no, we value our democracy. the good news is -- that is why this book is about everyday americans seeing the problem and stepping up. the good news is we have seen whether it is ohio in the special election, wisconsin where we see the end of gerrymandering, we saw election deniers lose office in 2022. if we see the problem, there are some of things we can do to make sure we do not become those countries like hungary. there is a way out.

there is still time for all of us to save the day. no one is coming to save us. it is on all of us. it is not too late. in 2022 to 2024, it can be a good window of time where we have made huge progress in protecting democracy in a moment when it is under great risk. host: let's go to the phone lines. your numbers, republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8002 --202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. our first caller is alex in brooklyn, new york on the democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you for such a good segment. thank you, mr. pepper. everything you are discussing here are things i worry about everyday. on the last part of what you just said about ohio, i wish i

could be optimistic. i am a daily listener of c-span. you can see even in this program with all of the information available, with all of the people that come on and have debunked so many conspiracies, so many talking points that republicans preach over and over again, you see an erosion of democracy almost monthly in a way that people have a worldview. you talk about ohio. republicans are trying to change the will of the people on abortions because they are saying that people make moral choices. even if it is a democratic vote, it is an immoral vote so it doesn't count. you have far right christians that are in progress right now. starting with johnson, that

believes you have to have the right way or there is not a way and it is their only way of saying it is our way or there is no way. it is almost as if you have any autocratic tendency within the system. you cannot win. there is no way of winning a news cycle where a million lies are put out there, even if they get corrected and fake electors agree. it is still in the conscience of the people that are seeing all of this stuff. i do not care for democracy anymore. what do you do? not for people like us who care, but for the millions of people who support autocratic tendencies, support the former president saying we are poisoning the blood of this country. host: i want to step in. let's let david respond. guest: thank you, a really good question and for concerns.

it is a long struggle. as much as i agree with you about some of the challenges, i also think they tried in ohio and they lost. not just on the special election in august but in november again, republicans, democrats, independents voted to protect a woman's right to choose. that is holding right now. we have to make sure they don't do something to undermine it. there is an instinct right now in politics to not be for democracy. sometimes they say it, they will tackle -- attack they were democracy. one of the problems right now, because of gerrymandering, basically they draw districts --

draw districts they cannot lose. what we have in many states, we have politicians like the current speaker who have basically been in office the entire time without worrying about getting reelected. they have been in districts that were drawn so they cannot lose them. they have been in districts from the outset. their entire career. one of their problems is they themselves have never been through democracy. i used to be in local office. i always had to win an election to get any office. i knew i had to appeal to the people. in america, we have a generation of politicians that have never been in an election themselves. their instinct is not very democratic. in some cases they are afraid of it because it is the one thing that will cost them their election. the speaker is a great example.

the first time he ran for the statehouse, no opponent. second time, no opponent. this first three runs for congress, 35% margin of victory because of mentoring -- because of gerrymandering. now he is speaker. we have to structurally fix politics so people in politics have to feel accountability to people. that means at least a level if you can end gerrymandering which we can do in ohio, you do it. i hope the code stuart -- liquid stuart. -- i hope the courts do it. if we can ever get a majority to agree with it, they have to pass reforms to end gerrymandering. otherwise, i agree with the caller, you have people in these offices who have ever faced elections and i have an

incentive to suppress democracy because they worry if they are in democracy they will lose their next election. they probably would because many of these politicians are too extreme for the people in their districts. that is one of the hearts of the problem, people in january -- in gerrymandering. we have to fix that to fix things long-term. ohio right now, we are trying to have 2024, any amendment on our ballot to end gerrymandering once and for all. guest: -- host: we have moses in lakeland, florida on the republican line. caller: hi. can you hear me? guest: yeah. caller: i have a question for david. host: go ahead. caller: we talk about election

integrity. i had a quick question. in 2020, you had five swing states that changed their election laws in the middle of an election to allow mail in ballots, no signature verification, no ids. the laws changed in the middle through fiat. how would you reconcile that and prevent that from happening in the future? guest: i don't know if they changed through fiat. one of the things that happened in 2020's people were voting but scared to death because of covid. there were dropbox is added and

people wanted to vote by mail because they did not want to stand in line for an hour. people were literally dying of covid. in the primary, the fear was there still in the general. democratic and republican states tried to accommodate that. drug -- dropbox's got a lot of attention in 2020, especially when people in democratic states started to use them. selleck city, utah had a dropbox is for years. anchorage has had dropbox's for years, it was not viewed as a problem. other states in 2020 -- i was one of them trying to do this in ohio -- people because of covid said can't we voted that way? some states of both parties do it. no one thinks there is fraud. there has never been far proven. a letter people chose to vote by mail because of covid to stay

safe. it was obviously like it has been in salt lake city, there are ways to do it securely with cameras. in georgia, they allowed it. in michigan and other places they had it. it turns out more people voted despite efforts to show that there was a lot of fraud, it was never born out. i think people made adjustments. this did not happen last-minute. all summer and fall elections officials were trying to manage an election of knew was going to be a lot of people during covid. they used practices that states of both parties had used and it turned out it used to have higher turnout but safer voting because he did not just stand in line with people coughing and spitting covid -- and spreading covid. the codes wait -- liquids weighed in on how to make

adjustments. my guess is you not see that level of change late in an election year. a lot of it was driven by concerns of how you vote during a pandemic. i am a lawyer. i teach election law. i generally have faith that courts and elections officials in many states, in ohio for example, you have every decision you are talking about you have democratic and republican officials signing off to make sure things are done fairly. host: i want to ask you a question we received via text message from robert in hazard, kentucky. "what can we do in our personal lives to help save democracy? how does he think we can talk to our neighbor about democracy without stepping on their toes?" guest: that is a great question.

having grown up a dukes of hazard fan, it is great to hear from hazard, kentucky. i am tempted to reach for my book. host: we can surely cover for you. guest: i have a diagram of a footprint. everyone of us has a footprint of influence in our lives that i believe most of us do not fully use to lift democracy. people get involved in politics and they think two things. i will volunteer the last couple of weeks to get people vote and maybe i will give money to a candidate or two i like. that is the extent that most people get involved in politics. that is too small, that is like putting your pinky to in and not your foot.

everyone who cares about democracy, think about everything you do. are you part of a nonprofit? are you part of a church, any alumni group? where do you work? are you in a community group where you talk to your neighbors? are you in an apartment building or you can organize seniors to vote or have a forum about how to vote early? here is an example also did this, senator brown of ohio, when he was secretary of state, he worked with mcdonald's to make sure every mcdonald's had a voter education form on every tray in ohio. do you volunteer at a local food pantry? have you asked the food pantry are you registering voters you serve food to? you could. my answer to the first part of this question is to make a list.

list everything you do socially, professionally, as a volunteer, social media. think, am i using all of that to this democracy? both through nonpartisan ways like encouraging people to vote or my earlier answer, i think we had a crisis of people who never fears competitions. in hazard, you have an incumbent who does not have any opponent. now is time to start thinking about can someone run against them? politics does not work well when most people don't have any opponent. think about your footprint in the world in all of the ways you personally can make a difference. one reason to do this is when you realize the battle for democracy is not about can you win five senate seats. everywhere in this country from kentucky to lakeland, florida to

brooklyn, everyone has able to play in engaging voters in running for school board, the front line of democracy. everyone's footprint is relevant instead of thinking all that matters is that a candidate a hundred miles away winds. -- away wins. i don't like to get into the arguments. if someone and i don't agree about politics, i don't think going to your neighbors house and getting in any argument makes a difference. it probably leads to a bad neighbor. what i would say is talk to your network. don't get into some big -- if someone on the other side has a different view, if they are hearing from the world, try and find common ground and talk to them that way. if you find yourself in 20 minutes shouting matches.

for that person, i would say that is not been able to win over. that vote is not someone you're going to win over. find people you are not in these debates with. one piece of advice i give is, try to get to issues that are not as partisan. i believe one of the biggest problems in america is that the outcomes for everyday people from broken politics are really bad. we see school to four days a week. we see small towns in ohio dying , no infrastructure, no hope. what i put in my book is if you want to win people over, whether you are running for office or any activist, start focusing on the things that are not that partisan they are first treated with. wouldn't it be great to have five days a week of school again

so you don't have to worry about what your kids are doing on fridays, what you are doing on fridays? you want a better education for them or your small town is struggling. try to find the things you have in common that are less partisan. if we get beyond the crazy national stuff, there are many of those things at the local level that my guess is you could break bread within a bronc and have a good conversation. host: let's go back to the phone lines. if you have a question for david pepper or a comment about saving democracy, the numbers are, if you are a republican, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. with that, we are going to go to the independent line. paul is calling from new york city. caller: you have a duopoly.

you only have two choices. those two addresses on a national level -- those two choices on a national level are not looking great for a vast minority -- vast majority. there is no u.s. senator who is the result of gerrymandering. the states are not gerrymandered themselves, the state-level elections. i think you have to realize that representative democracy is not the same as direct democracy. if you look at proposition 16 in california which overwhelmingly passed the state legislature and was viewed by governor brown -- vetoed by governor brown at the time because it was unconstitutional. when they tried to change it to a ballot initiative, it failed. it is often extremely different

than what the state legislatures actually pass. we can point to ohio, i think things could be a little bit different. the reality is you have a population that is unaware of the name of their congressman. i'm not sure that has to do with gerrymandering. i think you mean more competition and may be more parties. i'm an independent. guest: direct democracy is what saved ohio this year. we have a legislation that put in abortion bands with no exceptions that only 10% of

ohioans agree with and then we had a direct democracy vote in the side that believes in reproductive rights one. i feel like direct democracy is a great solution but only 18 states have it. there are a lot of states that think we want to put our constitution with the same productions and they can't do it. gerrymandering is not the only problem but one of the ones i have talked about it is the original sin of a lot of these legislatures. i will push back a little bit. even though we have statewide officeholders. but the super majority in the

legislature runs over the governor when they don't do what he wants. he would be more moderate if given a chance. and now he has caved in. these legislatures in many states dominate the politics. nobody even knows who these people are and they cannot lose. the gerrymandered legislatures all over this country and they are gerrymandered in the south, they create systems where it's not really a democracy. there more like laboratories of autocracy. if you un gerrymandered these

statehouses they would still be red statehouses. but there would not be a single member are not worried about election. that's taking place in places like ohio and turning them extremists. i believe even if you want your party to win, you should not let them win because they're guaranteed to when but because they when in a fair and competitive district. whatever party wins the majority, they will serve the party better in a competitive system as opposed to where everything is locked up. third parties, we had a third party for a number of years and i think it brought in a healthy

mix. sometimes they would endorse a republican or democratic candidate. they can play a role. another place someone would look to do more is the primary system. it's creating an incentive to be very extreme. the states that are beginning to have this nonpartisan primary where multiple candidates run in the same primary. then the top four people go to a runoff and that runoff is decided in a variety of ways. that is leading to more reasonable outcomes. that might make more room for

people in both parties. thus another big reform american should take a look at. host: melvin is in arkansas calling on the democratic line. melvin, are you with this? caller: yes i am, good morning. the election was not stolen but donald trump has said that they were stolen. he was the one that called down to georgia, tried to get the election turned over. he is the one that's actually damaging our democracy.

guest: and now we learned last week he did the same phone call in michigan. my hope is, this is a hard topic for 2024. my hope is that by both loosing an additional accountability. there is enough accountability for what he did in georgia and there is a georgia case, a federal case, a michigan case. we will find out if he is disqualified. my hope is there is enough accountability after what he did that it never happens again. if you think something did not happen right in the election you go to court. you don't call officials and

threatened them. that phone call with the georgia secretary of state was horrific. that is not allowed. there needs to be accountability. i am frustrated that it is taken so long. we should not be this close with the guy who tried to steal an election being able to win again. there are ways to challenge elections if you don't like something that happened. if something seems amiss, you can go to court and do it. he pursued those options and lost everyone. that's it, that's the ballgame. if he made calls to michigan and georgia, do you think he stopped there? there needs to be clear accountability so in the future,

they realize if after the court cases are over and you don't keep going because there was accountability for it. that was clearly an attempt to overturn an election and built into january 6. it is unspeakable what happened after the november election of 2020. host: next we have jamie from new jersey on the republican line. caller: i like what you are saying about getting involved. i am kind of insulted. crt and age inappropriate books. i don't want my little

grandchildren reading about sex when their brain can even fathom the thought. that should not be in school. it is not age-appropriate. crt is not american history. you want to talk about democracy. you are running on abortion issues. you are running on race baiting. i was a pregnant teenager, i didn't get welfare or food stamps. in the name of all that is holy and good, you would have aborted my children. you would have aborted my nephew.

in using the context of incest, that is less than 1%. planned parenthood does not give mammograms or check for std's. they simply end of the human heart the. i am insulted as a woman that your crt and book banning is your agenda. what little children be innocent and little. guest: merry christmas to you as well. a lot of things to respond to. on a serious topic, nobody would have made you to make that choice. you made a choice to have your children and no law in any state

would have told you otherwise. what ohioans voted on was they also believe they have the choice that you exercised over your own family, they want the same choice. it's not for government, that's a decision. my guess is missouri would vote similarly and make the same decision that it is up to each woman to make a decision on what is best for her and her family. i want to talk about crt. you talk about age-appropriate. i did not hear the term until i was in law school. it was an elective in law school that was taught. this idea that the critical race theory is somehow a part of

universal teaching in high school or lower is just not the case. it is a high level course on how to look at the law going back centuries and i think it's an appropriate way to see the law and teach and think about it. it's an appropriate thing to be taught in law school. i have a nine and six-year-old that this is being introduced in elementary or middle school, that's not accurate. if you take much time and study our country's history, you are not teaching the history of our country if you are not teaching african-american history. if that is not a core part of a history course, you are not teaching it. the struggle of african-americans in this country through the founding,

reconstruction and civil rights era. that is our country. you don't separated out or added to the end of a chapter. it's the hardest part of our history but also the most inspiring. so yes, we wanted taught. one of the things that make america phenomenal is how african-americans have overcome since the voting rights act. so tried to remove that part is to literally pull out the heart of american history. you don't know american history if you don't have a good understanding of the struggle of black americans from before our

founding through the civil war, through reconstruction including the underground railroad and the heroes there. through jim crow and the incredible leadership and heroes of the civil rights movement that is american history. and on the final point, we have a lot of miles of liberty montrose. and they lost everywhere. moms for liberty lost because most people trust teachers and librarians to get the balance

right for children. they can make the decisions about what is age-appropriate. and i think the reason you saw mainstream candidates when the school races because there is a trust level that you should trust teachers and librarians rather than others. that's why you see this consistent result in school board races across the country. host: let's take another call from brent and knoxville, ohio. caller: greetings from ohio. as a county chair i am glad to see you on the show. so people know what we are putting up with ohio with anti-democracy movements which is being fueled by our secretary of state and the legislature who

said no more special elections and all of a sudden they had a special election to try and change that 60% to change the constitution. i am so glad that weight that we -- that went the way it did. and letting a woman to make choices about her health care by yourself. i hope those same percentages carry-on and we can reelect sharad brown. happy new year. host: let me read a textesge we received from in bakersfield.

california independent voter can he speak about the idea of no longer valuocracy because of this form of government's inability to not place 90% of the wealth and 1% of the populace? guest: that is a great question. i think it is a great question and starts to explain some of the frustration with younger folks. we have to start showing that it democracy leads to results for every body. this is in part because of citizens united, it is over prioritizing those doing the best getting more. young people are seeing

student debt up to their eyeballs. when you talk to your neighbors and you only bring up democracy and not every day issues they may not be all there because they think is not working out for me right now. i vote but i can't make ends meet and i have so much dead in the 1% are doing so well. there is an issue that no matter what happens, they are not getting through the democratic system. i think we have to do a lot about things like monopolies that are allowing a few to do very well. i think we need a fair tax

policy and push on things like student debt relief. so every day americans can feel like they are getting ahead. it has reached a point with absurdity with how much people struggle. the dollars that people are making on the high-end and that disconnect ends up being a danger to democracy if people don't think it works for them even if they vote every time and the people they vote for women and they don't see a change, it starts to lead to people either not participating or not believe in democracy in democracy and the way we always have. host: back to the phone lines, tim is calling from maryland, the independent line. you are on. caller: good morning, how are

you? host: what is your question? caller: i have a question. american politics is very divided at this point in time. i was wondering if david could give a perspective on how the american could address politician ship and its wea ponization? guest: i think gerrymandering leads to bunch of it. once you know you are going to win your general election because your district is rigged the only thing you worry about is that you will lose your primary and the only way you lose your primary is if you are not extreme enough. i don't think those republicans believe joe biden should be

impeached or they should kick out tennessee representatives. but they knew that if i don't vote to impeach joe biden someone will challenge me in my next primary and they will probably beat me. it does lead to a lot of the partisanship the only thing you worry about in life is somebody will say you are too moderate and that's how you loose the primary. one of the reasons i enjoy coming on the show is because there are not many shows where you hear from people from missouri, ohio you hear all of it. i used a knock on doors when i was a local politician and i am old enough that when i knocked on doors i didn't just knock on

democratic doors i would knock on the mall. sometimes i would have a testy conversation at the door but it was better than not having one at all. we have gerrymandering but we have micro-targeted that we only hear from the people we want to hear from and not the other side. we don't even know how to have conversations with the other side. my friend in cincinnati named greg landsman, he is a brand-new congressman. he has town halls all the time with democrats and republicans all across his district and i respect that. he is doing what often does not happen you get an office only hear from one side. i think politicians should work hard to make sure they hear from all constituents.

the positive feedback, criticism, concerns and i think we would all do better as long as it is civil. both people in congress and the rest of us as well. host: tom and woodbridge, virginia, republican line. caller: good morning guys. i want to get a few points in, the country is more divided because of the hyperbolic political rhetoric and the nature of social media algorithms and you spend money to win primaries which speaks to the extremist end of the narrative. if you can win a primary whether

or not you can deliver on that. we have to remind people we are not a democracy. we are a republic which means we are essentially 50 individual states the function along democratic principles and our direct representatives are our congressmen, governors and state and local officials and our school board. those people have the most impact on our lives. because of the amount of money, 24 hour news cycle. the click bait hyperbolic political statements, everybody

is driven to focusing on the president and we don't even hear what the senate says unless you listen to c-span. people need to recognize that the two parties, the american people, the parties are controlling the primaries. you are not picking your nominees. the party picks the nominee is secretly worked behind-the-scenes because that nominee is the one they have the most control over. the parties control the nominee and they don't care who wins. they know both parties are essentially the same. host: iant david to respond but we also goa question from

deb johnson who asked can you defi the difference if you believe there is one between democracy and a repubc? we hear that a lot. can you address american democracy versus a republic? guest: i appreciate the caller's question. a smudges next year will be focused on trump versus biden. i think he is right about the heart of our democracy in our country is state houses, and that is where most of the decisions are happening. i think he put it really well, a lot of people say we are not a democracy we are republic as if

they are opposites. we are not a direct democracy and overall, that would not run well. although it is a good safety valve. we are republic, a democratic republic. people vote for representatives and they make the decisions. sometimes i worry that people have convinced people that we are not a democracy as if that justifies a gerrymandered legislature. we still vote for them and we are still would country where the majority of voters should generally be reflected in how those who are elected vote for us. when the wheels come off our

democratic republic is when a gerrymandered system means those who represent us, when they continue to do the opposite of what most people in ohio, missouri, florida want on every issue. at that point you are neither a democracy or republic. sometimes people believe that a republic means we are not a democracy and people don't matter as much. that is not true. the founders would tell you we have a representative system, we are not grease. the whole point of the legislature is that it reflects the majority of opinion of people in that district which is

why they have the election every two years and why they call it the people's house. and that is why i am concerned when you see these legislatures so gerrymandered that they stop reflecting majority well. -- will. we are also seeing corruption and extremism, lawlessness and many states where we see the systems. host: we will take one last quick call, matthew and knoxville, tennessee. caller: thank you for everything you are doing david. i think you are doing the real work out here. with the tennessee three, it seems like these things are happening in parts of the country that are astonishing.

for our state to get noticed and to get attention, the woman mentioned planned parenthood. the planned parenthood near my house was fire bombed by catholic fundamentalists. how do you get the attention of the national news media and point out what is happening in these places? host: we will have to be quick. guest: i really worry. when we only look at states as if they are red or purple we are overlooking how some of these states have fallen so far and does not feel like a democracy anymore. i think we need to have national

support democracy in all $.50. it wasn't right that some blacks in some states were gerrymandered. in many states, we have literally fallen to a place where there is little rules of law left in politics and where it's gotten so extreme and anti-democracy. we have to start both politically but also in a policy way. how do we sure of these states and give them the attention they need so they look like american democracy places versus what they are becoming. it's a real problem. we have to go beyond thinking about presidential politics to get that done. that's why i write these books. i spoken to folks in tennessee, missouri and oklahoma and iowa who feel the same pain you do that they are not really living in democratic states right now.

we have to go to bat and fight for some fundamental principles that we haven't been. host: i will have to leave it right there and this is the former chair of the ohio democratic party, david pepper. thanks again for joining us, david. guest: thanks and happy new year, everybody. host: we ll take a quick break and when we come back, we will return to the question we started the program with. the question is, what is the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024? go ahead and start calling and now we will get to your calls after the break, republicans (202) 748-8001 and democrats (202) 748-8000 and independents (202) 748-8002.

>> oscar munoz on his efforts to revive the company and the future of aviation. watch afterwords all this week in prime time at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span and go to c-span.org to get the complete schedule. announcer: weeknights at 9:00 p.m. eastern, c-span's encore presentation of our 10 part series, books that shaped america. c-span partnered with the library of congress which explores key pieces of literature that have profound impacts on our country. tonight, the will it cap other book that addresses the

immigrant experience. melissa homestead will host. watch c-span's encore presentation of books that shaped america weeknights at 9 p.m. eastern on c-span, or go to cspan.org/booksthatshapedamerica to view the series and learn about the books featured. announcer: friday nights, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly round of providing a one-stop shop to discover where the country and what they are saying to voters. this along with first-hand accounts from political reporters, updated poll numbers, fundraising data and campaign ads. watch 2024 campaign trail friday nights at 7 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or download as a podcast on c-span now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics.

>> the senate is in recess for the holidays and will be back. at the senate convenes january 8 and the house on january 9. both chambers faced to upcoming federal budget deadlines to avoid a government shutdown. the first is on gender 19 and the other is on february 2. >> the appropriations are ready to do the work but we are awaiting the other side to come forward with a number we can agree upon. >> leader mcconnell and i will figure out the best way to get this done quickly and neither mcconnell or i want a shutdown. >> follow the progress when congress returns on the c-span networks, c-span now or anytime online at c-span.org. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: welcome back. we are going back to the question -- was the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024? those phone lies for you to call, republicans (202) 748-8001 , democrats (202) 748-8000 and independents (202) 748-8002. before we go to the phone lines, i want to let you know that the house will be gaveling in for a brief pro forma session at 9:30 a.m. this morning. when that happens, we will take a quick break to witness the pro forma session. it should be really brief and then we will come back to your calls. that should happen around 930 this morning. until then, we are back to the question of the day -- we will go right to the phone lines starting with john in cleveland, ohio, democratic line. what is the biggest threat

facing the u.s.? caller: money in politics. we have too much money in politics representing special interests. if we get rid of money out of politics, all of these bad players will go elsewhere to earn their living. then we can have a better system of government. host: all right, appreciate that call. let's go to charles in michigan, republican line. caller: good morning. what a beautiful day. it's a great day to be alive, every day. don't misunderstand, some are better than others of course. i would like to comment on what's really the danger of america. the people like david pepper -- he is a socialist democrat.

he's ragging about the one per centers when he himself is a 1% or. why doesn't he just send me cash or more? is really irritating. the hypocrisy of it all. that's all. host: all right, charles. let's go to the independent line, iri iss caller: wish everybody a happy new year and i hope we have more sunshine in the weather. i think the biggest threat in this country is that our government is too involved in what's going on everywhere else. they are getting involved in it when they can't take care what's going on right here in this country.

they can't even get it straight that jewish is a religion and not a nationality. their priorities are for themselves all over the place. we don't know who they really support. every minute it seems to change. they are not doing anything to really invest in america. they seem to be investing all over the world and what seems good for their pockets. i wish they would come back to taking care of the country that they are elected to serve. is that too tough? that's my problem. host: i want to bring up our caller just mentioned foreign and domestic threats. this is from abc news --

let's watch a little bit of that hearing, fbi director christopher wray when he was asked about the current threat environment against the u.s. homeland at a congressional hearing earlier this month. [video clip] >> putting a fine point on this topic, would you say that right now the largest threat we face as a nation from international

terrorist organization since 9/11? >> well, it's certainly higher than it's been a long time. if you look post october 7 and i thought the threat was elevated before october 7 but post october 7, you've seen a veritable robes gallery of foreign terrorists. >> they are calling for attacks against us. october 7 was devastating to our friends in israel. peer testimony before this committee since october 7, the urging of foreign terrorist organizations to attack americans as gone up, is that fair to say? >> the threat level has gone to a whole another level since october 7. ok folks, you >> to do about it? host: that was fbi director christopher wray talking about current threat environment against the u.s. we want to hear more from you

and whether -- and when you think the biggest threats are facing the u.s. in 2024. our next caller is larry in tennessee calling on the democratic line. caller: i think donald j. trump is the biggest threat we have facing ourselves. if we lose democracy which could very well happen, we lose our ace in the hole where people have faith in their government and have an understanding, there is a responsibility that is there with democracy.

that's where our votes count. we feel a part of government. if trump gets involved, he has already said what he is going to do. he wants to be a dictator. i love democracy. it's what this country shows the world that can happen in a democracy with the united states. it's frightening to me that this country would turn -- would decide that a dictator is more important than their having a

part in voting and having their say-so respected. host: appreciate your call. let's go to chuck is in clinton, south carolina on the republican line. caller: good morning. think the biggest threat to us is the lack of education about how to do things in this country. like the guy talking about the threat to democracy, he kind of parents what he hears on mainstream media. they don't teach civics in the united states anymore. most people go and vote and they have no idea of what they are voting for. i remember when they pushed through that obamacare thing and they asked the guy who did it like how you thought you would get away with this and he said

we dependent on the stupidity of the average american voter. they count on it. i think everybody in this country ought to get a copy of a book called rule for radicals by saul a linsky and compare with that guy put down and where we are now. democrats a been trying to tear this country apart since 1900 and they almost did it at the end of world war ii. host: we will stop it there and go next to royce in wisconsin, independent line. caller: hi there. thanks for taking my call. my biggest idea is a perfectly controlled media where people can voice their own opinions and

the military-industrial complex in the pharmaceutical industry falls in line and they are all interconnected and fall in line with what we deal with. thank you for taking michael. host: let's read a couple of the responses we received either on text message or social media. summ, w jersey -- what do you thi is the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024.

republicans can call us at (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. we are going back to the democratic line right now, kathy from ohio. caller: hi, thank you for taking my call. i really enjoyed david pepper. i think the biggest threat to democracy is gerrymandering. i'm from ohio and we are gerrymandered and i've been saying over and over in that the democrats do not have a vote in this state. when we vote, republicans want to change the laws anyway. is gerrymandering, thank you. host: let's hear from bob calling from hometown, illinois, republican line. caller: happy holidays c-span. i know brian is listening back in the office. hopefully we'll have a prosperous 2024.

speaking of gerrymandering, republicans don't stand a chance every time they redraw the area. the biggest threat to our country, mainstream media, big tech in collusion with our federal government. i think it started with president obama and those illegal unmasking that took place. hillary and obama got called out on that and trump can go to the bathroom without somebody indicting them for something -- for something. the hunter biden laptop will cost trump's reelection. that's the only reason joe biden one is because they would let the story out. happy holidays, everyone. i let c-span. host: robert is next from georgia, independent line. caller: good morning. first time caller. host: thank you for being a first time caller.

caller: the biggest threat i think to america right now is the terror cells that are coming across the border and setting up in the united states. they will do something that will be big i'm sure and it will happen with an open border like that with the people we don't know who's here or what they're doing. if you see something, say something. i believe in that 100%. to go to a baseball game or football game, it kind of scares me now. that's what i think the biggest threat to america is right now. host: renée is next calling on the democratic line from florida. caller: good morning. i think we have a lot of things being thrown at us at one time. it goes from our enemies. i don't consider the countries

our enemies but as the dictators like putin and them. they are coming at us through russian propaganda. they don't have a news media but a whole media station coming at us with lies and they get away with it. they can't -- i'm talking about fox. they can't call themselves a news corporation. they are an entertainment corporation. they've had to pay for lies. now, you have the guy that's the head of twitter letting on alex

jones, hopefully, he has to pay everything he has to the people he lied about. they lost their children. it's scary. i will just touch on the news media but have a great day. host: let's go to memphis, tennessee, bubba on the republican line. caller: good morning. the biggest threat in 2024 would be if biden gets reelected. the country is already unstable and unsafe because of biden. you had a lady from georgia who called in and said she gets educated from you guys. you should have corrected her when she said the police are willy-nilly killing the brecht motorists. that's not true but there's been

more white people that have been killed by cops than blacks. you need to correct people like that. the one that set up trump gets reelected there will never be another election. that's completely, totally false. you guys will correct republicans when they say something wrong. you need to do it both ways. have a happy new year and hopefully trump can get in here and straighten this thing out, thank you. host: michelle is calling from sheridan, michigan on the independent line. what's your comment? caller: i think our biggest threat is the people we are electing to the house. we are electing people that have big mounts. they are not doing anything. they have no common sense. people are voting for party rather than the smarts.

people who want to go in there and do something to improve our country and stand by our country. it seems to be the bigger the mouth, the more you can spill hatred and dissent. those are the people getting elected. or you have those people that live in areas that are party strongholds that keep getting elected just because they are a republican or democrat. i live in a congressional area that the only way you would get elected is to be a dogcatcher as if you are republican. people in my congressional district don't care who the person is as long as they stick to their party. the guy is lazy and he never comes to his home district and he never goes across the area,

knocks on doors were visits with anybody. i'm sorry, i grew up in a district where we had a congressman who came at least twice a month into the area when he was home on weekends and went to the restaurants and went out and met people and talked to people to find out what they were thinking and feeling. that's our biggest thing is that we don't elect smart people. we elect stupid ones. host: all right, amin in temple, texas, democratic line. caller: i talk about it a lot when i call. a lot of these people don't know what's going on and yes, the news said the spaceships are

real and they know about the flying susser's. you look in your bible and you will see them talking about spaceships. the lady in california says she saw a spaceship. what i want to talk about is we can't do nothing about what's going on because we are living in the last days. if you check your bible or any other book, you can tell when a person gets on the scene that thinks he's greater than god, god straightens him out. i'm not worried about trump. what i am worried about is people are not using their heads. i read the koran in the bible.

everything in the bible tells you what's going on. kids will be thinking like adults and it will be mass murder everywhere. people will be trying to take from people instead of giving to people. like my people. the american need here, when he came over here, he was stripped, he was sold and he worked for nothing for almost 300 years. host: we are going to stop it there and go to our next caller. terry is calling from bemidgie, minnesota? caller: that's correct, thanks for taking my call. i think the biggest threat to the u.s. is job biden in 2024. it's mostly on the world front. he is the weakest president we've ever had.

when trump was in, none of these wars would be happening now. with biden income of the whole world is in disarray and we risk nuclear war. people are worried about climate change but we've got way bigger problems than that with this week president. he's the worst president we've ever had. that's all i have to say, thank you. host: let's hear from paul and west palm beach, florida on the independent line. caller: hi, i want to thank you for taking michael. i want to make a statement regarding the earlier caller, maybe the third kohler when he said a statement regarding president trump he would be at the tater. yes, he said he would be a dictator but he was going to close the border which is good for the country, millions of people are crossing already under the biden administration.

number two, he will open the gas pipelines and that will bring the prices down. they used to be two dollars per gallon. the second thing is, when you talk about a real dictator. biden is a dictator. day one he opened the border and he closed the pipeline. thank you for taking my call. host: calling from silver spring, maryland, don on the democratic line. caller: hello and thank you for checking my call. i wanted to say i think the biggest threat to her country in 2024 is the possible reelection of donald j. trump. he is a malignant narcissist and i think he is a real danger to our country. i come to ukraine, i think he would turn ukraine over to vladimir putin. he's very pals he with him.

he tried to overturn our government. he really belongs in jail. he is trying to postpone all of these trials until after he's elected president because he will pardon himself not have to go to jail. anyway, out of all the things that our country faces, that is the worst possible thing. all i have to say is people, please relay joe biden because we cannot afford to have donald j. trump in the presidency for four more years. thank you very much for taking michael. host: i will read some of the responses we received on social media as we wait for the house pro forma session to begin momentarily.

those are some of the responses as we wait for the house pro forma session to begin. we will go to the house for that brief pro forma session as soon as it begins and when we come back, we will take more of your calls. you can stay on the line if you are on the line or if you are coming back, we will come back to you shortly. it looks like the house session will begin any moment.

approved. the chair will lead the house in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 3-z of house resolution 5, the house stands adjourned until 10:30 a.m. on

friday, december 29, 2023. host: that was a brief pro forma session of the u.s. house. no business was conducted and we are back on "washington journal" having you guys answer the question -- what is the biggest threat facing the s. in 2024? republicans, we want you to call in on (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. before we go back to the phone lines, i want to show some video because a lot of people are calling and talking about former president donald trump and whether they support him or believe he is the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024. this is some video from attorney

george conway who was a guest on this program earlier this month. he talked about the mission of his new group called the society for rule of law. [video clip] >> the mission is to promote the rule of law and protect the rule of law at a time when it is seriously under threat. we have a likely presidential nominee in the republican party basically will forsake the rule of law, whose basically promising he wants to use the government should he become president again as an instrument for his revenge against his enemies. it's almost a third world kind of country thing we are seeing. we want to get the message out about what the dangers are that we face and about how important it is that the rules be respected and the rule of law

the expected and the rules governing representative marcy are respected. and to get people to understand what's at stake. host: who is we? guest: there is a group of us who are core members who formed the group under a different name in 2018. then we sort of revitalized the organization for this year because we didn't think we would be here in 2023 with a presidential candidate under indictment in four places with 91 counts against him after he tried to incite an insurrection. we didn't think our mission was going to be necessary after donald trump went on the airplane after trying to read capitol hill. we are back and this is more of

a long-term effort. there seems to be a problem, not just one person anymore, it seems to be a problem throughout the country at various levels of government and in the public where they don't understand what america means which is we resolve our differences peacefully and in the ballot box. we don't engage in conspiracy theories. we look at facsimile look at reality and we just think it's time to go back to basics. it's a longer-term civil educion process. host: that was frequent trump critic george cony. want to get to more of your calls. what is the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024? republicans can call us at (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202

748-8002. with that, we will go to rhode island where bob is calling on the independent line. caller: good morning. i listened -- i am 84 years old and i listen to c-span whenever i can which is almost every morning for at least some of it, sometimes all of it. there was a lot of great calls today. this isn't so much might number one because i'm listening to other people and i agree with many of the callers today. it's their expression of what they feel is the greatest threat. there are so many threats, there is no sense, i guess we can do one at a time. my feeling is the greatest threat is error stifling of the education, higher education and

other systems of education in the country. making them so unaffordable that many young people just don't know what to do. they find it difficult to go in that direction. they can't survive at the same time. i have 10 grandchildren and i won't go into it but i've got reasons for these feelings and i think they are shared by many of the callers who already came in that alluded to education as being a very difficult problem of the united states. i will leave it at that because i don't want to take up any more time. that's my feeling. host: thanks for your call. let's go to the democratic line from rochester, new york. caller: good morning. calling in reference to the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024.

personally, i think it's donald trump. let's get right to it. treason, people, it's all about treason. that's not a small thing, it's a big thing. for someone to put in another person's mind, his beliefs and his feelings on what he's doing is right, the man is not good for this country. he has -- i am an 11 year veteran, he has avoided with his money in the past,, going into the military like other dictators and their countries. i don't know if donald trump is forming a colts and those who are illiterate or following him. what he's doing is he's not

putting out anything good for our children. everything is -- has to be about money and power. what about being normal people. people don't even have a word anymore. when all of this came about, politics, the people had the word. if the people said it, that's what it was. now our leaders, our so-called leaders are calling the shots and doing it on their own. that's not how it's supposed to be. the people have the power, not the dictators. that's all i wanted to say. host: let's go to florida on the republican line. caller: i'm sorry, i disagree with him about donald trump. i think he was good with all his mistakes. he put his children first, that's for sure like biden has. everybody worries, education is

one that's true. it's gotten very expensive. if you are a second-class citizen, you cannot get a good education because of how much it costs. it never used to be that way. i'm going to be 90 in 15 months i think it is. i lived a long time and have been to different schools, all parochial mostly. i was glad to be there and my mother paid it. it was just my mother working to put my sister and myself in school. the church helped her but she paid a lot as well. i believe it is education and where they get it from. whether they get it on the street or the tv, no, we don't know. host: all right, the next caller is donna in north wales

pennsylvania, independent line. donna? caller: good morning. i am to say the biggest threat to our country in 2024 is a threat that has existed since the beginning of time and its misogyny. misogyny is the key that has corrupted our world, corrupted our species. you are undermining women in every realm whether it's in the home or at work or on their own bodies. it's all about control. it's always been about control. at some point, we as human beings, if we are going to allow this to continue, women have to make a decision and reject the

misogyny that exists in this world. that's what i believe and i don't think we'll ever change. i think our threat as human beings are basically relegated to the grafting, obstructionist creditors gop but it doesn't -- is not limited to the u.s., it's also worldwide since the beginning of time. thank you. host: let's hear from walter on the democratic line from maryland. caller: good morning. i have 23 with a number callers that donald trump is the biggest threat of next year. the message he sends to our country and i would agree the caller dish with the caller that talked about donald trump and

it's something we have to address. i pray we as citizens of the united states will come to our right senses and observed democracy. that's all i have. host: up next, roger in illinois, calling on the republican line. caller: yes, thank you for taking my call today. all these charges against trumper going nowhere. it's all political and has been from day one. they ridiculed his family and put his family through unnecessary situations. our border is at the all-time worst. thousands of illegal people are coming in and then asked to stop. we need to get back to drilling like we did from the beginning and we just need to think about

-- we need trump back in the house to get things going the way they should go. it biden's family is corrupt, they need to be put the hard bars and something needs to happen to the democratic party. i've never seen it worse than it is. god has control of this in his will be done to our country. thank you for taking my call. host: from little rock, arkansas, allen, independent line. caller: hi, good morning. as a retired history teacher, wanted to call and remind the washington journal who has used their first president's name to help increase their notoriety and profile and legitimacy and such -- it was this morning on the 26th that he's marching in

after being up all night long crossing the delaware to attack this group of german troops that were being paid to come in and wipe us out. honor to george washington and our country's future was on the line on this very morning on the 26th of december. i think we need to respect our country and their history and be thankful especially the washington journal. this dividing error country the way you do with these republican and democrat bias every day is such a disservice and dishonor to our country.

your chief officer needs to correct that before he retires. you can have time zones, age divisions, whole range of other divisions to separate your callers. rather than this divisive quality that is interjected every day. every get day you guys are doing that and is such a disservice to our country. host: we will leave it there. i want to read some of the responses we received on social media to our question of the day. what is the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024?

host: what is our biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024? let's hear from kevin in washington, d.c., democratic line. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, go ahead. caller: happy new year. i think trump is a big threat because he tries to to -- he would try to use military against u.s. citizens but he's not the biggest threat. a weak candidate will help him win. one of your callers said they

didn't have the biden -- the hunter biden laptop in the last election. they said it was fake and now that it's real, the new york times had an article on thursday on saturday on the cover that said some of his bidens weaknesses but it mentioned the laptop and embarrassing stuff. it's a national embarrassment to have trump or biden as candidate. your guest today said sherrod brown is a great leader. he has the young people support and he's got -- i didn't know he had the registration in mcdonald's in ohio. free speech is the most important thing.

countering threat information league says biden is trying to adopt here. it's muzzling the press and threatening publishers. host: appreciate your call this morning. as we talk about threats, one of the things that comes up sometimes when you talk about international threats is china. want to bring up in article in fox news that references a poll from the reagan presidential foundation. this is a fox news article. the reagan national defense forum but out the results of the poll that says, according to the reagan national defense survey, 77% of americans view china as an enemy while just 15% view the nation as an ally.

the numbers a drastic change from 2018 in the survey found 38% of americans view china as an ally and 55% as an enemy. on that topic, let's bring up some video from the joint chief of staff chair charles brown who was asked about the survey results at this year's reagan defense forum which was earlier this month. [video clip] >> 51% of americans now say they see china as the biggest threat. it was surprising that 74% said we could actually be in a war with china within five years. what would you say to the american people serve -- responding to the surveyed who respond to china with increase worry and concern? >> the first thing i would tell them is they ought to be proud of their military. we are ready for whatever comes our way. the same time, we want to be so

ready that we don't have a conflict. our strength that we demonstrate as a military will help bring that piece. the better we understand the threat environment and the fact that the american people will start to recognize where the prc is is a challenge. it's not just what the military does but what we do diplomatically and economically, to be able to compete where we need to but also cooperate where there may be opportunities. >> one of the wins the biden administration took away from the meeting between presidentxi and biden was the reopening of military communications. can you give us an update on how that's going and how that's critical? >> i'm standing by. we just met a few weeks ago with the president and the

opportunity to have dialogue whether it's with their allies or partners or adversaries is important. with our adversaries, is to prevent miscalculation. host: that was joint chiefs of staff chair general charles cq brown who is talk about survey results showing americans are more and more worried about the threat from china. we want to go back to the phone lines. what is the biggest threat facing the u.s. in 2024? cindy in norwalk, connecticut on the republican line. what do you say? caller: hi, good morning. there are many threats but for me, the lifelong entrenchment of our congress. i am for term limits. i believe our founding fathers wanted citizens to come and serve and then go back to

civilian life to real jobs where they know what the american people struggle with. i believe republicans and democrats have sold us out to foreign countries for air jobs. that's another thing and the other point i'd like to make his inflammatory language, how we speak to each other. the term hit n nazi used to carry great weight. now we throw it around like any other word where it has been watered down. it doesn't have meaning. let's have some honesty. maybe donald trump did do a lot of inflammatory things but i don't think we are being honest like he is a dictator and he will do this or that. the current administration, i want to point out a few things and i will let you go. i don't think donald trump

mandated the scene and cost tens of thousands of dollars -- of civilians to lose their jobs over the vaccine. even mayor adams tried to go to visit with joe biden to talk about immigration in the next thing you know, he's being raided by the fbi and having his phone confiscated. let's not talk about donald trump going after his political opponents. democrats are actually doing it. host: christina is next in iowa, independent line. caller: hi, i think the biggest problem we have and please let me talk, is the division and fear tactics going on. i study psychology and i've noticed that we will create a problem for all americans and then feed them fear and that divides us.

we create big problems so much so that it is destroying our people, our land, air economy and our children. and their futures. and both sides are working together. then they let it get as bad as it can get and then they come in and want to be the hero. they create the problem and that they let it fester so the people have no other choice but to willingly go with them. none of them has ever solved any problems. they just keep adding on and they keep it going so fast that the people can keep up. i'm telling you right now, we are going down and people do not come together. host: appreciate your call this morning. anne is next in bar harbor, maine on the democratic line. caller: thank you very much. i think the greatest problem facing the united states is irrationality.

i say that because our whole government, how we transfer power, how we legislate, i make judicial decisions is based on coming to consensus by reasonable debate with empirical evidence. on the republican side, they have abandoned that because they've taken that their government is the problem. it's a feather in their cap if they can grind government to a stop. their politics of faith which is introduced things appropriate to religion like a leap of faith, belief in things you cannot see, rational habits is their absolute creed. they introduce that to government which is what the founders didn't want. on the left, there is the false rhetoric that there is no

difference between the parties that there is a two. i would like to say there is a huge difference between the parties whether it's their agenda or how they respect the institutions of government. going into 2024, having sincere, honest and truthful discussions about rhetoric, about how people use language and how the metaphors they use which it supposed to make things more clear are actually clouding things. that's what i have to say. host: steve is next on the republican line from florida. caller: hi, good morning, how are you? host: what your thoughts this morning? caller: it's very confusing, i am a conservative and i both on the republican ticket but i'm listening to republicans and

democrats and independents. we could sit here and slap each other but that's not the answer. i think there is false prophets. we have a certain amount of people in this country that send out a message to both parties and at about 2:00 in the mornings everybody gets their talking points over their phones. they all come across with that point of view. if we break it down, i hate trump because of trump. he says democracy is done but that's a bunch of crap. we have all lived through democracy and it's not gone. everyone has the right to get out there protest. they don't even know what they are protesting. they want to erase college debts. they don't know what they are protesting. none of them know if they are

doing. there is a lot of threats going on in the country. i believe joe biden is not in charge. there is no way this president could be in charge the way he walks around and asked to my opinion, barack obama is in charge but that's my opinion. i think people need to start listening correctly instead of bashing each other. that's a bad thing in this country and i've watched people talk about there's no jesus or god. i don't know. host: we will have to leave it there because we are running out of time. that will do it for "washington journal" today. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023]