you can have a good meal you can do whatever you feel young man are you listening to me i said young man what do you want to be i said young man you can make sure your dreams -- make true your dreams but you've got to know this one thing no man does it all by himself but your pride on the shelf and just go there to thernal"

continues. host: welcome back. we are continuing our coverage ahead of the start of the democratic national convention in chicago. it kicks off tomorrow. from chicago, we are now joined by rick pearson, who is the chief political reporter for the "chicago tribune." welcome to the program. guest: thank you, kimberly.

good to be with you. host: c-span wants to thank cruise for allowing us to set up our studio in their building with such great views of the city of chicago. we will be broadcasting from this location throughout the convention this week. we are now talking to the "chicago tribune's" rick pearson. you had joined the paper a decade earlier as a government correspondent. all these years you have covered illinois and national politics, what is your sense of the moon in chicago ahead of the conventions getting started tomorrow. ? guest: i have to tell you, kimberly come a lot has changed, obviously, you know, since president biden decided not to run again less than a month ago. the mood coming into the convention with joe biden as the

anticipated nominee was, i would say, not very enthusiastic. i won't say it was almost a funeral dirge, but it was almost like a going through the motions kind of process. since the support around kamala harris, you know, coalesced so greatly among democrats, i think there really is a greater expectation of excitement and opportunity with this convention as well as much more public attention will be brought to chicago and the convention itself. host: you have a story with the headline about that, that all eyes will be on chicago this week, can the dnc help reverse the city's national narrative? there have been so many stories about the violence at the 1968 democratic convention in chicago, also the democrats held a convention in chicago in 1996 that went smoothly.

does chicago have something to prove here? guest: well, that is kind of the thesis of my sunday story. when you've heard a lot of negativity about the city of chicago, a lot of it from former president trump, saying it is se afghanistan," other things, even though he does have a substantial piece of property on the chicago river, when you hear that repeated narrative around the city, there are stereotypes around chicago, and yes, chicago has its problems. chicago had a number of problems coming out of the pandemic, incidents involving the george floyd police shooting. sure, we are a big city, but i think in some respects, we are also a city that has a chip on its shoulder after being portrayed negatively by a number of people. host: so how is the city getting

ready? guest: well, one, many respects, and you touched on 1968, which is perhaps the most contentious political convention ever come and a lot of the trappers are trying to raise the prospect of, you know, will this be another 1968? the dynamics, the atmospheric some of the emotions them and the politics, i think, are much from a much different than than they are now. sure there are great divisions them a great divides on issues. there will be protests. i would say basically there are going to be the protesters and there will also be the disruptors. you are going to have the organized protests. a lot of those, of course, pro-palestinian protesters are against u.s. support of israel's military battles with hamas and all of the issues involving the

more than 40,000 people who have died in gaza. you are going to have those, but you are also going to have, i think, a number of sporadic disruptions around the city. the police are promising to quell any violence immediately, but they are also saying, we are not going to be into the business of mass arrest incidents, those kinds of things. larry snelling, the chicago police superintendent, has been expressing confidence, basically since, almost since chicago got the convention, that times are different, policing is different. they've done a number of trainings with law enforcement, not only with chicago pd but also with some of the 300 to 500 police departments that are contributing, law enforcement officers to the city cozy effort.

that is kind of the lay of the land when it comes to protests. it was one of those things what we had to wait and see what develops, and obviously what is going to be law enforcement's response to it. host: what will we know as far as what significant protests are planned so far? guest: well, we know significant protests are planned starting tomorrow, and there was a lengthy legal battle between protest organizers and the city of chicago over kind of a parade routing area that would get them within sight and sound of the united center, but also not detract from the security perimeters around it or detract from the egress, ingress and egress of the delegates that are going to be attending. another interesting factor here in chicago that is somewhat unique is the united center,

that is where the made-for-tv primetime programming is going to be, but during the day, a couple miles away, on the lakefront is the mccormick place , and that is where the day meetings are going to be going on for the various caucuses. so you have kind of a bifurcated task for democrats here. and kind of a lengthy trek for delegates and officials to be moving from one place to the other. so it will be interesting to see, too, about potential disruptions them as protesters and demonstrators try to disrupt the progress of people moving from mccormick place to united center. host: can you speak specifically about the protest regarding the war in gaza? as washington post reports here, there's a portion

outside chicago referred to as "little palestine." little palestine is a community outside of chicago that is home to one of the country cozy large concentrations of palestinian americans in chicagoland, the highest number of palestinian americans in the u.s. what are you hearing from this community ahead of the convention? guest: well, we are hearing very much about disappointment about the u.s. military support to israel, from that audience, very much in line, and they are very vociferous about it, so it is no surprise that they will be joining into these protests. the curiosity, i think, really comes to, is, you know, what is the size of these protests going to be like? no one is quite sure. basically we've been told there are tens of thousands of

protesters that have arrived in the city. we also know that there has been some consternation among some of the people that are organizing the convention over, for example, issues like hamas and israel, actually proved to be kind of a detriment in some respects for fundraising for holding the convention, even though the organizers did raise a record $94 million, that apparently was kind of a setback there of business is not wanting to be associated with a controversial, political issue. but there is no doubt, this is going to be the lead protest at the convention, and it is going to be interesting, too, to see, how is this reflected not only outside the hall but inside the hall? you still have a number, almost two dozen uncommitted delegates

that are elected, and they want to have their say. they were elected uncommitted as a protest against the biden administration and israel. host: inside the convention hall, the dnc seems to have finalized all of its speakers for the week. are there any sort of outstanding questions about how this is going to go? guest: i think it is pretty well set out how it is going to be. i think, you know, when you look at the fact that, you know, just four months ago, joe biden was going to be giving the acceptance speech on thursday night as the party's nominee, and now he's going to be the opening-night speaker, and he's not going to stick around. monday being the, i guess, start of what you might say is the long farewell of joe biden as he becomes a lame-duck president. it is going to be interesting to me.

i think it is fair to say it is probably going to be a bittersweet moment for some of the democratic delegates here, because come at the same time, they certainly want to show their appreciation to biden and what he has done come at the same time, it's also, thank you very much, but now the party is going to move forward, and we are moving forward with kamala harris. you also have my believe, tomorrow night, too, is hillary clinton speaking. that will be very interesting to see how, you know, she fits into the movement forward as well. you've got former president bill clinton speaking, former president barack obama, chicago grown president, and, you know, this is an anniversary of his famous speech in boston as a u.s. senate candidate that propelled him basically from that point, before he had even been elected to the senate come

and propelled him onto the presidency. then, of course, we are going to have governor walz speaking wednesday as the vice presidential nominee, wrapping up vice president harris giving getting her speech as the presidential nominee. she will be here monday for president biden's speech and will be at the convention basically the entire week. host: if you have questions for rick pearson, he has decades of experience covering politics nationally and illinois. republicans can call in at (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. before we get to the calls, though, rick, are there significant figures from illinois who will be making an appearance at the convention, and who are you most excited to hear from? guest: well, one of the things

we talked about is the transformation with the democratic ticket nationally. at the same time, there are some illinois-centric issues. democratic governor jb pritzker, a billionaire and air to be high hotels -- heir to the hyatt hotels. it was no secret that even when biden was filled the presumptive nominee that pritzker was starting to make moves to broaden his footprint nationally. the governor is an avid supporter of abortion rights, something that was instilled in him by his late mother. he created an organization called think big america, that is actually doing funding of abortion rights initiatives,

ballot initiatives, and legislative initiatives in a number of states. the convention was kind of seen here as a national showcase for jb pritzker, assuming that there was the potential for him down the road becoming a candidate for president and be on the national ticket. obviously, he was one of the finalists for vice. president harris as a running mate. did not get that. still, this is governor pritzker's convention as well as mayor brandon johnson. it is their convention, there showcase. what is the future for pritzker? he is up for office in two years. does he seek reelection? a potential cabinet position, if the harris-walz ticket wins. he basically is the democratic

party of illinois. and you have mayor brandon johnson speaking monday night, the traditional opening slide of the mayor of the host city welcoming the people to chicago. mayor johnson has had a pretty rocky launch since his election a year ago, and it is going to be interesting to see him address the national stage, a former union organizer for the chicago teachers union, which is one of the most politically powerful teachers unions in the country, and certainly unions in chicago. they are in the midst right now, the chicago public schools some of the teachers union, are in the midst of contract negotiations. mayor johnson has asked the state of illinois for over $1 billion in support from state government. there's a number of issues that there have been some tensions between him and governor pritzker on and basically

involving money from springfield. pritzker, during his tenure, has been a very solid money manager for the state of illinois. the state has seen a number of, i believe at least eight credit rating upgrades for a state that was very nearly in default under the previous governor, and pritzker is just basically saying, you know, this is not good money management. we are doing what we can. so those two, i think, are really important people, to see what their message is. and i think that a lot, as i say come of the coalescing that has gone on around harris has kind of put these intraparty divisions down below the surface. they are still there, but it is going to definitely be an attempt to portray the total

unity of this convention. host: let's get to some callers we start with. peterin buffalo, new york . good morning, peter. caller: good morning. i just want to mention, i hear about, you know, the millionaires and billionaires who pay their fair share. i'm on a fixed income, so i'm not even, but i don't have any jealousy towards the people who made that kind of money or are making that kind of money. if that was you, you would probably hire the best accountants in the world, you know, to save you money. so, i just wanted to touch on that. i'm a retired roofing contractor, and my father told me not to go into business to him and i said why, dad? and he said, you don't have enough -- i was raised by johnny

b democrats. host: peter, did you have a question for rick? caller: oh, yes, i'm sorry. i was listening to the show before he got on there. i'm a little confused as to what rick is -- host: rick is the chief political reporter at the "chicago tribune." you can ask him about anything politics, convention, national politics. caller: ok. should i just get to the question now? host: go for it. caller: ok. yeah. like, i have great friends that are liberal democrats, but i'm going to be a three time trumper, so i just wanted to get what his thoughts are on, you know, trump doing everything he said he was going to do, he did,

you know what i mean? what are his thoughts on that? and who does he think is going to win? how about that. host: ok. rick? guest: ok, one, i don't make predictions. there is a very popular weatherman in chicago who just retired named tom skilling who is a good friend of mine, and i always joke, if you want predictions them asked tom. he is normally right, and he makes a lot more money than i do. i do not make political predictions. number two, as far as trump doing everything he said he would, i think there is some question to that. certainly off the top of my head, the issue of building the wall and saying mexico was going to pay for it. that did not happen. so, i mean, here in illinois, this is a state that trump lost

consecutively by 17 percentage points. it is a state where the divides have grown deeper between the more populist, northeastern illinois area of chicago and what we call the collar counties that are in chicago and the rest of the state. and what is was fascinating, illinois has not voted republican since 1988, and prior to that, it was known very much as a swing state. the most recent demographics of collar counties were known as a republican firewall for the democratic folks coming out of chicago. well, that firewall has burned down. those collar counties have turned more purple, it's not blue, and where they used to be kind of the heart of republicanism, moderate

republicanism, social conservatives -- or fiscal conservatives, social moderates, that has all gone by the wayside, and republicans have been losing ground in this state at an alarming pace for republicans. illinois right now, every statewide elected office is democratic. the illinois supreme court, which is elected, is majority democratic. the illinois legislature has super majorities of democrats, the house and senate, and, of course, the legislature draws its own redistricting map, so that plays a big role. we look at the illinois u.s. house delegation of the 17 members also helped by the legislature drawing, the redistricting map, it is democratic. that is kind of the lay of the

land where this race is going to turn out in illinois. host: let's hear from paul in virginia on our line for independents. good morning, paul. caller: good morning. i'm an old guy, and i was in chicago in 1968, at the end of the month, to get a diploma at the university of chicago. i was heavily invested in the antiwar demonstrations. the atmosphere then was different than now. lyndon johnson had announced that he was not going to run on march 31, and hubert humphrey became the leader, and there was a challenge from bobby kennedy, who was then assassinated.

and four days after lyndon johnson decided not to run, martin luther king was assassinated. there was terrible violence. the politics were very different. right now, you have an arranged convention, a coronation of a candidate who, until it was announced and moved -- host: paul, back to 1968, were you involved in any of those protests? caller: yes, i was in grant park. i was wearing a suit, because i wanted to give a good impression. everybody else was wearing other things. the hippies were there.

consequently, i saw myself at the intersection, right near the hilton hotel, and the bar at the corner was called the haymarket, strangely, echoes of the haymarket riots of the 19th century. and there i was, and the peace corps had a contingent, and the police charged the sidestreets. host: paul, you talk about there being a very different political setting then versus now. caller: there is one other thing, if i can say, there was journalism van. there was journalism, and "the today show, joe correggio and i

think barbara walters were saying "there are kids in the street that are getting beaten up," and the governor convened a convention, and it was determined that this was a police riot. it was very different. host: i'm going to let rick respond to some of that amazing history. guest: i agree with paul that the atmospherics are a lotdiffe, not only did you have the political upheaval after lyndon johnson, who was leading a very unpopular war, decided to drop from seeking election. you also had basically the decade of the 1960's, which were filled with racial unrest

political unrest, almost believe 1968, even though it was the end of the decade, that became almost like an ignition point for the decade. and i really think a different atmosphere now. i don't see, necessarily, the point that chicago in this democratic convention is going to face the upheavals that were represented. in 1968, we obviously have different political leadership in the city. you mentioned about the 1996 convention, which was the renomination of bill clinton, and you heard very few people talk about that.

and that convention went off really without a hitch, but everybody refers back to 1968 and automatically harkens to those dark times. i just don't think we are anywhere close to that, as we approach the convention tomorrow. host: let's hear from david in new york on our line from republicans. good morning, david. caller: yes, good morning. hi, rick. good morning, america. guest: good morning, david. caller: i saw the story on fox the other day with liz mcdonald, and she is stating how these political ads are showing up where they are taking news stories in the background, and they are changing the words with them, or they are changing basically the facts of the case, and they are replaying them, and it is allowed because it is a political act, and they are

allowed because it says so at the bottom of the ad. i'm sure we are trying to find as many facts as we can about the candidates before the voting begins, but it is sure hard to do that when you can't actually find the facts on tv. and this phrase of the day thing that, you know, how can these news stations act like they are actually researching staff when every morning, it is the same on every one the phrase of the day? so they are really not checking facts. host: david, let's let rick respond. go ahead, rick. well, yeah. certainly i'm not familiar with the phrase of the day. i don't know that we have that necessarily in our local news here in chicago, but certainly, i think, the effort to try to find truth in an era of

miscommunication, misdirection, and this version of media is very difficult to do. but one thing that has fundamentally changed, i believe, and that is, don't just rely on one sorts of information for the facts. and also, the more you read, the more you learn from verifiably, authentic sources. that having been said, the issue of people running political ads, changing headlines, swapping out wards, putting up phony headlines some of that is nothing new. that has happened in illinois before. yes, there are federal prohibitions about ads being yanked from the air because of free speech considerations, but at the same time, if a politician is running an ad where they've authored headlines

or changed words, we will call them out on it. we will call them out very loudly on it. host: robert is in greenville, texas on our line for independents. good morning, robert. caller: yes, good morning. good morning, c-span. i've been calling in for about 10 years, and we have a convention with a great opportunity that i hope some of the candidates, and the guest speakers, reiterate to the american people what this issue or what this election is all about. now, i called out nine years ago the issues regarding paul manafort.

michael flynn, russia, i voted for trump. i'm an independent. i've been a lifelong republican, but i switched course, and i don't mean to go through history, which i won't do, because i really want to make my point about the convention and mr. pearson's view on this. i think the emphasis of this convention should be not on promises, future promises, most of either politician, republican, democrat, whatever what have you, will make a lot outcome and most of them will not be kept. that's called vision, democrat'' vision, republicans' vision, for what they want this country to be. but the fact remains, the candidate at the top is a reflection of the party's moral

dignity, beliefs, and i think at this convention, it would be wise for the speakers to focus on their opponents -- host: i do want to give rick a chance to respond. is there something you want to highlight? ok, go ahead, rick. guest: i think that is one definite element that you are going to see at this convention. indeed, i believe one of the theme nights of these conventions, they all have theme nights, and i believe one of them is, you know, basically, what is at stake. i think you are going to be here, truly, a more constant reframe -- a more constant refrain of democrats and the trump-led ticket, you will hear

that repeatedly probably more so then you will the vision. certainly one of the things that is always kind of a dilemma here, when you are dealing with kamala harris, this is basically her coming out party, and the issue of, you know, a chance for democrats to define her and what she stands for and what she wants to bring to the united states, and that is one thing we've seen in recent weeks, is that the upheaval and change in the democratic ticket has really thrown trump for a loop, and his ability to try, which will always be part of, you know, politics 101, you know, define your opponents before they can define themselves, and he has kind of stumbled out that. and his lines of ridicule really don't carry anymore weight schoolyard insults. there is no more substance to the critique that he gives.

so you will see that kind of defining issue, but you are very much going to see democrats try to portray themselves against what the trump administration data in four years in the white house and whether americans want that to come back again. host: richard is in minnesota on our line for democrats. go ahead, richard. caller: good morning, rick. you are looking good. guest: good morning. caller: my question is on the political spin, most of the major networks are owned or ceo'd by republicans. they took all the major networks over. do you see this as a problem with our country? guest: i don't think so. the one thing i am kind of trouble by is, you know, the

siloing of the media and people staying within, you know, finding their comfort silo and sticking into it, and programming that plays to that, where the cardinal rule of journalism has always been, regardless of party, to challenge authority, which is the way that i've always tried to practice things. i'm not sure, yeah, of course, everybody should look at the background of the media of which they partake. but at the same time, influences into the actual journalistic product, those become pretty obvious, and, so, i think, when you know what you are going to be getting, take it for what it is worth. host: in tulsa, oklahoma, on our line for republicans, good morning, ken. caller: good morning.

good morning, rick. guest: good morning. caller: i a big trump supporter, and trump is the one standing in the way of this headlong rush into socialism, communism. kamala harris-while spain ticket walz to get his big government, and walz is a good example of kids having sex changes and abortion up to nine months, and that's not christian. we really don't know a lot about it, and the media has -- host: ken, we are running out of time for this segment. what is your question specifically for rick? caller: my question is, are you

going to use the opportunity to find out the actual policies of big government and how the controls are going to be and to play that out? because venezuela -- host: ok, we are going to let rick respond to questions about the media and the convention specifically. go ahead, rick. guest: i will say, i think the caller has touched on one point, where the trump campaign has tried to do the framing, to try to reframe the newly minted democratic ticket as the socialist/communist. and that is a perfect play for the trump base. and, yes, i will say, we are certainly going to be looking for what are actually the policy issues that come out of the harris-walz ticket. we saw her earlier attempts just

recently about economic issues, created basically some discontent over the issues of checking into price gouging, not price control, but price gouging, giving the federal trade commission more authority to look into that, you know, supply chain, involving food prices, which i think has created some contradictory views , even within the democratic party. but that having been said, yes, we are all going to be looking to find more substance about the democratic ticket, and that is just the nature of this, and we will be looking for this convention to try to see if there are actually specific policy goals enumerated. my guess is, not likely. host: roberto is in new jersey on our line for democrats. good morning, roberto. caller: good morning, america.

i would like to make a comment, than i would like you to respond. first of all, i think there is too much corruption in our unions and our government. it is very hard for politicians, even good ones, to get anything done, because of the unions. so what i would like to ask them a maybe you can recommend an article, the federal government, for employees of the cities, states, counties, federal government, for federal section eight housing for low income workers, and employees that make more money, that own a home, should be given something similar, something that 70% of the mortgage and taxes should be

deducted, because i want to see a government that is run by the people and that elected officials should have the power to fire the employees once they are elected. host: there are quite a few policy suggestions that you are getting rick to respond to, so i will go ahead and let him take a stab at it. guest: i will have to take a stab, because there's a lot packed into that. let me say also, as someone asking about elections and government from someone who covers illinois government is in a unique position to watch. one of the biggest hurdle to enacting any ethics changes is the fact that it has to be done by the governmental bodies that themselves would feel hamstrung by what would be viewed as ethical changes.

so that is almost kind of a universal mindset. even the most altruistic politicians would acknowledge how difficult any ethics reform is. as far as the power of the unions, you know, especially public employees unions, certainly one of the most, as we see the service industry has risen in this country, public unions, and their power has grown rapidly. but, you know, when you look at, again, the divisions in america, the ability of super pac's and the lack of accountability that you have over who is funding pac's, where the dark money can be used, you know, this is a race, just a big money race on each side. and it is going to be very hard to try to unplug one side and

not unplug another side. host: last caller for now, kay is in richmond, virginia on our line for independents. good morning, kay. caller: good morning. i'm an independent and also african-american. i would like to make a comment commend and i have two questions for mr. pearson. presently, americans are excited about having a younger candidate and i guess a first woman president. if trump loses this election in 2024, i believe it will only be because people are voting off of emotions instead of voting off of policies, and it is a fact that people are voting off of emotions only, because they were so quick to get behind kamala as the nominee without even hearing the policies. what i'm about to say next is just kind of, like, wishful thinking, but i wonder how things will play out if donald trump steps down and would let a

woman like nikki haley be the nominee, instead of trump remaining on the top of the ticket, he would be on the bottom of the ticket, like vice president, and also be her advisor for the next four years. i think if trump allowed a woman like nikki haley or any other experienced woman to be at the top of the ticket, it would probably be a guaranteed win for republicans. in this way, people that are only voting for harris because she is a woman would now have a better option. i have two questions for rick pearson. assuming that if trump were at the top of the -- the bottom of the ticket instead of the top of the ticket, would his campaign funds go to the person at the top of the ticket? my second question is, is it too late for the rnc to change who is at the top of the ticket? thanks. by. guest: that is a very interesting concept. one, i don't request to be an expert at federal, finance laws,

but yes and i think the money would transfer over in that case. let me say, one, i would find it highly doubtful that donald trump would ever accept a number two spot on anything. so the chances of that happening are none. but i will tell you, i do agree with the caller, and i know this from talking to many younger people, and this kind of goes back to how we began our conversation today, about going into this convention. the lack of enthusiasm and the lack of excitement, and the fact that, with kamala harris, you have a younger person running for the nomination is part of that enthusiasm. and, yes, it also is partly because a woman, it's partly because of her racial and ethnic background as well. and that is also, again, put trump on his heels, because he

was used to campaigning against "li bin joe biden," and now he has no come back and has been on -- "sleepy joe biden," and now he has no come back and has been unable to come up with a come back. host: