♪ host: this is "washington journal" for september 2, first monday of the new month and

labor day. in presidential years it is when we start paying attention to the elections that will take place in just over two months. we want to hear about what topics are of concern to you to decide who you will vote for this november? could be the economy, social issues, other concerns. call and let us know. we will take your calls for all three hours. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and independents (202) 748-8002. if you want to tell at your top issue anyone to text it to us, do that at (202) 748-8003. you can post on her facebook page at facebook.com/c-span and on x reach out to us @cspanwj.

newsweek takes look at surveys in so-called battleground states this election cycle and what top issues are for voters in those states. the august survey showed the economy is the number one issue. the seven battleground states of arizona, georgia, michigan, nevada, north carolina, pennsylvania, and wisconsin. or than one in five voters in each state continuing it their priority voting issue, abortion being the second or third most prominent issue across all of the seven states. adding voters across the seven battleground states say immigration is in their top three key topics. 16% reported in pennsylvania. it also took a look up all done by emerson college -- it also took a look at a pol donel -- at a poll done by emerson

college. the main issue being the economy in those states. the number one issue in pennsylvania with "threats to democracy" a distant second at 11% and immigration third at 7%. in north carolina voters named the economy of their main issue. the economy may be that top issue of yours in considering who you will vote for. there could be other issues. if you can call and let us know, we will put as many over the three hours as we can. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents (202) 748-8002. during the three hours we will hear from reporters in battleground states telling us about those states up for play in the cycle as the candidates visit and roll that into the show as well. and it comes to those events it

president biden and vice president harris making a stop in pittsburgh that you can see later on this afternoon. 4:45 on c-span as they hit the battleground states, onef ny on this labor day. 4:45 o c-span. watch at c-span now and c-span.org where you can follow along as well. when it comes to the top issues, what are yours? john in new jersey, republican line. top issue this election? caller: good morning. i am 75 years old. so the economy for me is ok at this stage of my life. i worry about my children and my grandchildren. more specifically, to me immigration or illegal immigration is the top issue. you cannot have people coming in

for the last three or four years , you've seen what has happened in all of the major blue cities. they're almost going broke trying to deal with this. that has to be dealt with. i think donald trump is much better to do that. host: i would you say your state of new jersey is dealing with the issue or how has it impacted if it is of concern to you? caller: i live in a semi rural area. we worry about it. i have not seen it personally. i am sure it is here. certainly places like patterson, trenton, camden, newark. more suburban areas. i do keep my eyes open every day to see who is coming in. that is the way the american people feel. guest: john in new jersey --

host: john in new jersey. let's hear from barney in florida on the democrats line. caller: good morning. this is the only developed country that has a criminal running for president. is that going to be a constitutional right for everyone convicted that they can run for president? host: why a top issue for you? caller: why is it a top issue? don't you think -- you have a criminal who would sell out own country for money. do you understand me? the man already tried to overthrow the government. he has the supreme court backing him up.

the united states is the laughingstock of the world right now. because of one man. go ahead and finish -- host: go ahead and finish your thought. caller: is so-called party, the party of family values. this one man will destroy their party. it is a sign of ridiculousness. host: andrea in buffalo, new york. independent line. top issue. caller: good morning. i am andrea from buffalo, new york. the biggest issue for me and most independents is civics. i remember a time when we were taught civics in school. the lack of civics. foreign affairs to me is important. keeping america safe.

for me, i want someone in the top offices who knows constitutional law, the government, how it works. it is very clear to me that the top of the republican ticket does not have any idea on government, constitutional law. it is basically about making money. just the fact in regards to immigration, immigration is very important but you cannot turn away people that want to come into the country. we have to make sure they come in legally. the fact that people do not know civics, do not know foreign affairs, do not know constitutional law, anyone them to lead our country? donald trump is the biggest

fraud. host: when it comes to the vice president, she has a background in criminal law. why do you think your expertise would extent to constitutional law? caller: excellent point. she has been a senator. she knows how government works. she has been a prosecutor. it would be easy to make that leap or make that jump into constitutional law. also the fact that our former president, barack obama, is known for constitutional law. you can have that person -- not that he will be running the country, but you can consult with him and the fact that she has been a senator, she knows the government. he has no clue in regards to the government. host: that is andrea.

her issue is civics and constitutional law for those occupying the top office. when it comes to matters she mentioned, some have mentioned it was a few months ago that the pew research firm put out top policy priorities. as we have seen in the other ones, strengthening the economy at the top of the list defending against terrorism, reducing the influence of money in politics, reducing health care costs and improving education. those are the top five of that list. immigration coming down after that, dealing with immigration, and that it moves down from there. issues of climate change, addressing issues around the world and dealing with global trade. that is at the bottom of the list. this was done earlier this year. those might be issues where you find a top one, per tripoli as

you consider -- particularly as you consider choosing a president this year. let's hear from pittsburgh, pennsylvania where the president and vice president will be here later on today. this is mimi, republican line. caller: hello. i just wanted to point out you cover a lot of topics and primarily it is trump, trump, trump. did you cover, i did not see it, where mark zuckerberg in a letter to the house committee said he regrets and apologized for bowing down to the biden administration's pressure to center -- pressure to censure content regarding covid and the

hunter biden laptop? host: that story was out there. i do not know if it was mentioned on this program. why does that rise to the top for you? caller: that was ahead of the 2020 election. further zuckerberg said that if the biden interference was wrong and he plans if it ever happens again. host: the topic got a mention according to our producer. there is the headline. is this a top issue for you election wise? how would you answer that? caller: the economy and immigration. there are many issues that are top in my book. i just wondered whether or not -- it seems like it is all trump, trump, trump and never anything about the biden administration and what they have been doing for the last

three and a half years. host: we focus on that as well as the former president as we have gone along, especially towards election day. new york, democrats line, paul. caller: my number one issue is universal health care for all citizens free of charge. which the united states does not have. the rest of the world has had for generations. united kingdom has had it since 1948. all of the industrialized countries have it today. they spend less money than we do , they cover everybody for everything, and have a higher quality health care and i'm not exaggerating when i say tiny communist cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than the united states. how do they perform this miracle? tax dollars pay for medical care and all money spent goes directly to medical care.

what makes medical care so expensive in the united states is the prophets, it is the prophets, not the cost -- is the profits, not the cost of medical care. when obama was making the affordable care act, he laid out the red carpet for insurance companies, anyone who would make a profit. those supporting a single-payer system, which was a large movement at the time wanted a seat at the table, they were denied a seat at that table. when some of them entered the room anyhow and demanded to be heard they were arrested for trespassing and carted off to jail. it is about time we caught up with the rest of the world. host: you think the current vice president is interested in going further than with the affordable care act provides? caller: she seems to be

vacillating on that. she did talk previously about medicare for all but now she is saying not really. she is changing her positions on some things. i am going to vote for her because i think donald trump is so horrible that i cannot see him in the white house again. i am very disappointed in where she seems to be heading. we might get a slight improvement but i do not think we will get under her what the rest of the world has had for decades and generations. as a footnote i would like to quickly add one more thing. host: you already took a lot of space with universal health care. that is a top issue for you. thank you for calling and sharing that. others, that could be part of your concerns or the top issue when it comes to the election cycle. if you want to call, the line (202) 748-8000 for democrats,

(202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents (202) 748-8002. richard is next in illinois, independent line. caller: the list you showed are all important topics. the running of the government needs to address. one of my issues -- i have talked to people and their disenchantment with the choices for candidacy. one of the things is they always say they are all crooks, it does not make a difference, they are all crooks. for me, if you are a crook you should not be running for the presidency. if you are a crook you should be prosecuted. some of the things -- one of the things i was reading this morning about donald trump

saying it is ok for him to interfere in the election so he should not be charged with it. if that is his interpretation of how we run our government, if that is the way people think about the way we run our government, it is definitely an issue that needs to be corrected , that we are doing whatever we want regardless of consequences -- that is not what i believe we should be doing. we should be running our government and doing the best weekend to improve society rather than creating more dissidents and tearing it down. host: that is rich in illinois. the previous caller had mentioned medicare for all. abc news has an interview with the colorado governor.

this is one of the topics that came up. there are some of the story saying "when pressed on harris' past support for medicare for all, the coloradan said the vice president is still focused on making health care more affordable. i think she understands americans want to have their choice of health care. can we do better to say people money on health care, absolutely ." there is more to that interview. you can find it online. when it comes to the topics of medicare for all and related health care that might be your issue. let's get richard in kentucky. republican line. caller: i just read an article, and this has to do with the transition if trump wins, he comes in to the white house and

it is what joe biden and kamala harris do in helping him come in to take over. now i read this article that in 2016, when trump won, we had barack obama, james comey, joe biden, and the whole team who went after michael flynn, not wanting him to be in charge of the nsa. michael flynn was a retired patriotic general it was absolutely a brilliant and wonderful man who they lied, cheated, and absolutely destroyed his life, his family, cost him every dime. this is the fbi in charge of this. host: you went back in time to 2016. let's take it to 2024. what is the top issue. caller: the top issue is how much shenanigans. he did not want to remember what

the democrats did before, are they going to do it again? michael flynn in james comey and the fbi. host: if you can related to the top issue for 2024. what is the point. caller: can you trust the democrats to do the right thing now? they have tried to kill the president of the united states. host: no, no, no. i will leave it right there. james on the democrat line. caller: this will rouse some feathers of the listening group. a long time ago i heard a statement -- i am 74 years old -- i heard a statement made that it does not make much difference to the president of the united states is and at the time i did not think much of that statement. as time has gone by i begin to think that. then along comes trump and that is all we have heard about since he won the first election is

trump, trump, trump. you have to make the best choices you can. the choice today we have is you have to have rules, you have to have guidelines. trump has no guidelines. no matter how much you try to say the democrats are going to do this or that, they are going to do the right thing. trump has not done the right thing. it is not a matter of opinion. you cannot have your own reality. host: are you saying the top issue this election cycle is the former president himself? caller: that is the top issue for me. i have to keep him out of the white house and i have to try to straighten out the republican party to some extent if possible. they are so far off the rails. host: why is a democrat do you think that is your job to do?

caller: i am not necessarily thinking because i am a democrat. i am thinking that because i'm a principal person that wants to do the right thing. i would vote for a republican anytime. i would vote for a republican, i would vote for a democrat. i would vote for anybody i thought was a reasonable person i would not mind having govern me and my family and my children and the community. it does not have anything to do with being a republican or democrat. host: you are a democrat, correct? caller: i guess. that is the line i called in on. host: let's hear from edward in wisconsin. independent line. caller: top issues our economy and the border. i think the last eight years have proven this government is so corrupt it is on savable. host: when you say the economy and the border, why is that a top issue for you, especially

being a battleground state? caller: you would be surprised the illegal workers in the state. there are factories that only hire illegals in this state. host: how do you know that for certain? caller: because i worked in one. i was the only citizen in there. host: ok. immigration being one. you said the economy. what is the economy like in wisconsin? caller: just like it is all over the country. it is scary every day when you go to the grocery store. host: edward in wisconsin. top issues. if you want to participate and tell us yours, many people talking about the economy, some talking about immigration, some talking about the players involved when it comes to this year's election cycle.

you can make that part of your mix. (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and independents (202) 748-8002. if you want to text us you can do that at (202) 748-8003. as always you can post on our social media sites, facebook and x. myrtle is in georgia, democrat line. you are on. what is your top issue? caller: my top issue is i do not think we should have a convicted felon running. i thought that was illegal. host: the constitution does not clarify anything on that front. why is it a top issue for you? caller: because if you are already convicted of something you may do other things when you get to the white house.

if they cannot prosecute you on what you already did that why can't they prosecute you if you do something else illegal? host: that is myrtle in georgia. we will hear from francisco in long island. independent line. he is gone. let's hear from charles in maryland, democrats line. caller: how are you doing, good morning c-span. my top issue is integrity and character. i look at donald trump and he is lacking all of that. he would still be president if he had an up integrity to tell the truth about the pandemic. he lied to his wife and children. he lied about barack obama not being a citizen. he has no integrity and no character and people are still going toward this guy. host: if integrity is your

issue, how do you apply that to the vice president, assuming you are voting for her? caller: the vice president? you are talking about kamala harris? it is not even a comparison. it is no comparison. she is taking care of other kids, she has been a steady force. donald trump has been deceptive to his family, to the economy, to everyone around him. i will say this and get off the line. if you cannot handle something, if he cannot handle blood you cannot help a man bleed. he cannot handle the truth and handle losing and he is making a mess of everything he has touched. host: that is charles in maryland concerning the vice president. recent polling where she stands

compared to former president trump, this from the hill saying vice president harris to not see a significant boost in support following the democratic national convention, maintaining a slight lead over former president trump. a new abc news poll released yesterday found the vice president edged former president trump out 50% to 46% among all adults and registered voters. when it came to likely voters harris led trump 52% to 46%. pollsters noted the findings are similar and statistically unchanged from a poll in august according to an abc news /washington post/if those poll before the convention. harris had 49% before the convention while mr. trump had 45%. all eyes have been on polling released since last month's democratic national convention. the poll was conducted the day

after the convention's final night. that is as far as polling and you will see a lot of that when it comes to where the candidates stand. it comes to the issues you can tell us what that top issue is. some of you making reference to the people involved directly. others to other issues. edgewater, florida. republican line. caller: happy labor day. there was a caller a few back that was talking about integrity. i guess he was ranting on trump lying and a bunch of other stuff. i do not understand how democrats have a very short memory. let's go back to 2016 when they came out with the russia hoax. they spent four years perpetuating a hoax.

it was not true. it was all lies. it came from the government. they went after trump. that villain eyes tim. -- that villainized him. host: as far as this year's election what is the top issue? caller: the top issue is the economy. period. it is growing at a rate a lot slower than it should be and it is also teetering on not recession, but depression. it has gotten to a point where i see people i have known for 10 or 15 years can no longer afford to live in the house they are living in or can no longer afford the rent. i have friends in their 40's. i am 66. i own my house. i am lucky i got a 2% mortgage rate. they talk about the economy slowing down. we have inflation slowing down.

why do we add this up? 9%? 3%, 3%, 5%. you add all of that up and we are at about 45% increase. when the democrats want to go running around spewing how great the economy is, saying it is doing wonderful, we have it under control, is only 3.9%, that is on top of everything else that has been going on since the beginning of time. host: the new inflation report came out last week. you can see those online. the economy might be one of those things as far as the top issue is concerned. you can call on the line and let us know. we'll be spending most of our time hearing from you about these issues. you can call in and stay on the line. keep calling. we will also check in on the battleground states across the

united states and talk about the issues there and what is at play. joining us to talk about the state of michigan is so it clark, political director -- is zoe clark, political director for michigan radio. tell us about michigan radio. guest: michigan public tells us about the entire -- michigan public covers the entire state so we are able to hear from folks all over expressing the same concerns we are hearing from your viewers this morning. host: we framed it as top issues. the average michigan dark, what would they say? guest: the economy and the price of goods is certainly number one or two. republicans in the state, including donald trump, who has already been here twice in the last week, really want this to pivot around the economy and also around crime and safety and immigration and how those issues connect with one another.

that is really what he has been pushing. republicans down ballot. emme kratz in the state and democrats who come in -- democrats in the state really want to talk about abortion. this state had a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2022 and saw incredible turnout and saw democrats take control of state government for the first time in 40 years. democrats want the conversation about abortion. host: polling from 538 showing a slim margin between harris and former president trump. those are aggregate poles but what do poles you look at within the state tell you? caller: one thing week -- guest: one thing we can say because we never want to talk about just one poll. one trend is kamala harris has been better for the ticket than

biden in michigan. we were looking at as high as seven points for trump ahead of biden. i do not think this would ever be a seven point race, we are the swing used of swing states. what we are seeing is kamala harris being the. -- being neck in neck. this will be a close race and this is about the ground game. for democrats when were folks turn out to vote in michigan democrats win. i like to say that in 2016 eight when folks were so shocked donald trump won michigan, it was not so much that donald trump won michigan but hillary clinton lost michigan. folks stayed home and did not turn out. that is what the harris campaign has to look like. for trump it is about getting out voters. his ceiling is low.

there are only a certain number of folks. host: how would you characterize the ground game for both parties? guest: it is very interesting. it is trump a la 2016, we will take out 2020 because of covid. rallies throughout the state. he was in howell michigan two weeks ago at a sheriff's department. issues about whether or not he was politicking there at the department. he does not have a huge ground game, where is the harris campaign, previously the biden campaign had offices throughout the state. that is whether or not they get out the vote for the harris campaign having these offices throughout the state are going to matter, particularly in voter rich cities like detroit where voters really stay home in 2016. host: it probably would not

surprise you that the vice president plans a trip to talk with labor leaders. tell us about this visit. guest: kamala harris will be in detroit. this is not surprising. there is a long history of presidential candidates or vice presidential candidates or vice presidents and presidents themselves coming to detroit. the state is such a historic state when it comes to labor and unions. the state that put cars in american homes. we had barack obama when he was president for 2011, joe biden he was vice president came to detroit for labor day. there is a rich history and we assume that what she will be focusing on is the economy, inflation, and what she wants to do for workers. host: in your state we heard about this group of voters, the undecided voters. much influence do you think they

still have today as far as who determines the state? guest: this is a great question. the undecideds and those who feel like maybe they know but it is give or take whether they turn out to vote. what is really interesting we have not talked about is the committee boat -- the uncommitted vote. southeast michigan, including places like dearborn, has a huge arab-american population. this is where the uncommitted vote started in february, this idea he will vote in the democratic primary for president but not for joe biden. instead there was a place where you could put in uncommitted, check that uncommitted box. about 100,000 uncommitted votes, this is because of the protest over gaza. it'll be interesting to see what happens with kamala harris, how she is able to thread the needle around gaza and israel because

there is also a large jewish population in the state. 100,000 votes come that is a big deal what you think donald trump won the state by 11,000 votes in 2016 and biden won the state by 150,000 votes in 2020. guest: tell us about the role -- host: tell us about the role governor whitmer is playing in this event? guest: she is one of the national cochairs, previously of the biden campaign and out of the harris campaign. she is a popular -- and now of the harris campaign. she is a popular governor in michigan and a popular brand ambassador in the country for democrats. she is going to be on the ground in the next 60 plus days doing everything she can. she won her gubernatorial race two years ago. that abortion amendment on the ballot. we believe some of that helped. she ended up winning by 11 points in michigan over a

trump-endorsed candidate she was running against. she will absolutely be part of getting out the vote in michigan. host: abortion plays largely in state politics. you think in national politics that is high on the list? where does that rank? guest: my understanding is it depends on each state. in michigan it tends to be economy and inflation number one, and the number two were three tend to be immigration or abortion depending on who you talk to. it depends on the state and the laws posted jobs -- post dobbs each state is creating. it is something democrats want to keep talking about. former president trump continues to talk about last week over the florida abortion ban and seems not to figure out what his messages where democrats feel they have a solid message and

will continue to push it as much as they can for november. guest: talk about what changed -- host: you talk about what changed in the state with the entrance of the vice president. i'm sure that affected down ballot races, including the senate race. tell us about that race. guest: let's say the democrats down ballot are happy about this decision. whether they will say publicly or not there was a feeling of excitement that they were not going to be dragged down by the former president. this is something that does not happen very often, it is an open u.s. senate seat. that is because longtime democratic senator debbie stabenow announced she is retiring, surprising some. it is an open seat between current democratic congresswoman alyssa slotkin who currently represents the congressional district debbie stabenow did, and mike rogers, a former

republican congress person. it is an interesting race because the republican and democrat are the establishment candidate and right now, with the american system of primaries , we sometimes see in these far-right candidates cancer republican primaries, whether it is with a trump-endorsed meant or just grassroots. that did not happen here even though the establishment candidate thought the trump-endorsed meant, even though mike rogers said some things after the 2020 election that were not kind to the former president. this is a close election and one where the u.s. senate candidates are looking to the top of the ballot hoping to help them out. just last week when donald trump was in michigan, mike rogers was standing right next to him. host: how can folks find michigan radio if they are interested? guest: go to michiganpublic.org.

my cohost and i do a weekly podcast on all things michigan if you want to dig in more to all of these crazy things heading into election 2024. host: zoe clark on this labor day. thanks for your time and your input. guest: thanks much for your time. host: will continue talking to reporters from battleground states. listening to you about the top issue. in west virginia, democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to correct a caller that called in earlier. i have been listening. to me the most important issue in this election is that republicans are enamored with an

idea of how awesome trump is and they do not look at things he has done, things he has said. what that caller was talking about how general flynn was railroaded in 2016, general flynn was an effective general working intelligence in combat zones like afghanistan or iraq. he came back and left the service he was going to be in charge of the dia or the nsa, one of the intelligence agencies. he tried to run it like he ran the military. it was just not working. he was overly emphasizing -- host: back your idea of the ideal trump republicans have, what you think that is a top issue? caller: they listen to fox news and they believe everything they

are told. what i am trying to continue saying is general flynn got into some problems. host: that is in 2016. let's bring it up-to-date as far as the top issue? caller: they all believe there was no connections to the trump campaign in 2016 and there was. the trump tower meeting with russians. paul manafort lobbying for the puppet president in ukraine for 10 years and then he gets chosen to be trump's campaign chair. paul manafort r was given -- paul manafort was giving rnc documents to russians. host: we will go to ricky in philadelphia. your top issue this election cycle. caller: good morning. happy labor day.

my main issue on this election is the border issue. i have relatives that live in chicago and new york city. they are receiving housing, medical, pre-much everything they wanted. i looked at that as not being fair for the rest of the people that came in and did it the right way. the big issue to me, because i'm a veteran, and you still have veterans in the city of chicago and new york homeless, living on the street, and getting no

support for up i know everybody -- getting no support. i know everybody -- drugs and fentanyl and the crime wave. i know in chicago and new york crime went up. they were telling me because of the migrant situation. host: with all of that said, who do you think has the better approach on immigration policy between the candidates? caller: by paper, trump has the better -- but i don't think he has better because vice president harris, who was the border czar and pretty much

people ran amok at the border. the edge goes to former president trump with the border situation. host: ok. ricky in philadelphia. immigration at the border is is issue. in massachusetts, republican line, tony. caller: thanks for taking my call. the issue i'm concerned about is threats to democracy. i know democrats are usually the ones who call about that. i want to say that the way big government politicians get their wer is by making the

government bigger and they get a lot of influence in hollywood, in the media, in academia because of t grants they approve, and also from people who are recipients of government aid. anyone who is in any of those areas would be more likely to vote for a democrat. for a time i wondered why so many countries have gone socialist. i wonder why couldn't they see that the governments that have small governments do better economically and in other ways. i think that has a lot to do

with it. basically big government is something that gets stronger as it grows. that is of concern because there are a lot of other things that get stronger as they grow, like fires. host: tony in massachusetts. thanks for the call. let's hear from michigan, bradley, hello. caller: thank you for taking the call and happy labor day. hopefully we'll celebrate and have a good time when you get off this. my main issue is to deny all insurrectionist from running or getting elected or reelected. that obviously includes trump but also a lot of congressmen including mine, jack bergman. please listeners, if your rep is

in insurrectionist vote them out because they are traitors. if trump is elected he will pardon himself as well as the january 6 criminals and probably appoint two more supreme court puppets. we may disinfect and cleanse the country. host: independent line, another michigandar. robert, you are up. caller: happy labor day, america. i want to touch base on what is real important to me for the 2024 election. we are seeing affordable housing -- let me start over. i would like to touch base on the lack of affordable housing being built in the government funding housing associations using property to create multiple dwelling homes. what is happening is we are seeing corporations in my area

by up these mom-and-pop rental homes and increasing the rent. i have lived here a while. saturday i received a letter from my landlord and he increases the rent another 50 this year. along with that -- he sent a letter. it says "due to the significant increases in property taxes and cost-of-living we find ourselves in a position where we have no choice but to adjust the rent. i encourage you to consider these factors when voting in the upcoming election in november. the choices we make an impact the policies that affect our community and financial stability. your voice matters and it is crucial to support your candidate who prioritize affordable housing and fair taxation." my issue is when i looked him up as far who as who is donating to , he is primarily donating to

republican sides. i do not think he has the best interests, i think he is trying to influence or coerce my vote. i know he has another 240 tenants underneath him. my the only person that received that letter? host: the vice president touted a housing plan as far as her campaign is concerned. what you think of what she is proposing and you think that's ways your vote? caller: absolutely. as an independent i am leading towards kamala harris. i like what she is talking about making these corporations accountable. i hope it goes further because this is an llc, i don't know if he falls into the same category being an llc. that is my take on that. host: mike in houston. republican line. good morning. caller: how are you doing? i wanted to make a comment about kamala harris.

in the past she has made a lot of promises that have not come true. i would just like to say i would also like to mention about our border. i think that her being our border czar was a big mess from day one. i am voting for trump. thank you. host: would you say immigration is the top issue on who you will vote for? caller: immigration and the economy. host: can you elaborate why immigration and what specifically -- why overall immigration? caller: is it doing? they are allowing them in their housing them in government homes and they are letting the taxpayer pay the rent for them.

that is it. host: mike in houston. immigration and the economy. those have been consistent. some of you mentioning other things as well, some of you mentioning other people. all of that. (202) 748-8000 four democrats, (202) 748-8001, and independents (202) 748-8002. your top issue this election cycle. calvin in north carolina. democrats line. he is gone. let's hear from jeffrey in kentucky, independent line. caller: i am calling about the democrats and the republicans. the democrats are always talking about freedom and they would not

allow a palestinian to talk at their convention. the republicans will not allow palestinians in their convention. we talk about justice in this country? why isn't there any justice for the palestinians? and the republicans always talk about justice saying the system is broke. no. the republican party headed by a criminal and they have become a criminal organization. host: back to your previous point. would you say foreign policy is the top issue for you? caller: yes. i don't understand the treatment. we are treating the palestinians just like the united states treated the native americans. they are doing the same thing

because they cannot solve israel. it is a land grab. this guy cut me off because i said it is a land grab. i thank you for your time and i appreciate it. host: jeffrey in kentucky. there is reporting late afternoon that u.s. officials say president biden's month-long push for a cease-fire and hostage release deal faces renewed urgency sunday after israeli forces recovered the body of six hostages including an israeli american. the united states has been talking to egypt and cutter -- and qatar about a final take it or leave it deal it plans to present. one that if the sides failed to accept could mark the end of american led negotiations according to administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. buy-in officials say it was not

immediately clear -- biden officials say it was not clear whether the discovery of hostages would make it more or less likely israel and hamas would come to an agreement. you can factor that in if that is a top issue. there is in the washington post. you can talk about it as well. those are the lines you choose. if you want to text us, (202) 748-8003. facebook and social media also open. facebook.com/c-span or on x, @cspanwj. randy in wichita falls. caller: my issue is the economy. people were slow to remember that when joe biden was elected the first thing he said was he will cripple the fossil fuel industry. he has come and if you look at the economy, the price of a carton of eggs, to get that to a

retail store, you have to plant the feet which you use diesel, which is now $4.50 a gallon. you put that feed in the ground and has to be grind it and brought to the egg farm. it takes five semi loads of feet a day to feed those chickens. with those -- with that diesel price going up, and then to get the egg to the retail center you have to use diesel will transport it across the united states. also the card and is put in is styrofoam which is an oil-based product. if you could take the price of all of that energy used to get the egg down you'll see the price of everything go down and that is everything on the shelf and walmart. thank you for taking my call. host: i'm interested how you relate that altar eggs, is this from people you know? caller: from people i know and

what i see go down the road to that farm. that is with anything that comes on the store, it takes energy, fossil fuel to move it around the united states to get it there. if you take that price out of it you will get the price of everything to go back down. host: randy in texas with his look at these issues. the economy the top for him. kentucky, democrats line, we will hear from stephen. caller: how are you this morning? happy labor day to you as well. i just wanted to correct something from the last two callers before i go on. i do believe this current administration is seeking a two state coexistence between the arabs and the choose. that is number one -- between the arabs and the jews. at least they are willing to listen. the gentleman who just called in

, the reason for the problem is corporate monopolies. that is what kamala harris is trying to fight against, which donald trump, we talk about immigration so much. donald trump has been exploiting immigrants in his hotels and golf courses for years. this is part of the problem. i want to talk about terrorism. freedom. we have a candidate who is throwing a party for january 6 on september 6? he is showing support for domestic terrorists. how does that help our country? it is an embarrassment that he goes on to that conference and he talks about women and african-americans, journalists, the widow that lost her husband in pennsylvania at that rally, he has no compassion at all for anybody. you have to have compassion and competence to run a government

and the fact is this is not a business. people keep saying he is a savvy businessman. then explain the 34 felony convictions. he says he is law and order. please. these police officers are fools that are standing up supporting this man. how can you support a convicted felon that preach to us about lw and order? what this is really about, and i don't know if anyone has talked about this but i will if not, we have to evolve to the next level to make the american dream a reality. we can't just keep saying we are number one. we have to go the next step to prove it. you cannot keep everything the same and expect different results. donald trump wants to keep everything the same. before i go, all of these people who gripe and complain about the economy. donald trump has said he wants a

dictatorship. what more do you people need to have? host: los angeles, independent line. go ahead. caller: why are we wasting our time between trump and kamala, why don't we just vote for pedro? host: what would be your top issue? caller: vote for pedro. host: that he is in pennsylvania, one of those battleground states, republican line in uniontown. good morning. caller: my main concern is border security and energy independence. it took 19 terrorists to kill 2967 people on 9/11, but our border is wide open and we don't know who is coming in.

back in the 1970's, i remember the oil embargo. having to stand and lying to get gas to go to work every day. -- having to stand in line to get gas to go to work every day. it seems oil-producing countries can control our economy and our politics. i think we should be oil-independent. i mean, if we look at the germans, the germans had some of the best tanks and airplanes during world war ii but did not have the fuel to use them. i thank we should make our own fuel and our own -- produce our own energy right here in the united states, which will make a lot of good union jobs. host: thaddeus, pennsylvania. a little after 8:00 eastern time and we have two hours to go.

hearing from you about your top issue this election cycle. if you want to call and express that, it is (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text or post on social media if you want to talk about that like we have heard from at least -- we will continue talking about why battleground states are up for grabs. mainly, we will hear from you when it comes to this idea, top issues for the election. when it comes to election events, the current president joe biden and is vice president kamala hris now running for the white house, labor day rally in pittsburgh. you could see that afternoon at 4:45. yocan watch on our main channel c-span, foll all on our app. robert in massachusetts,

democrat line. caller: my number one thing is racism. racism is rampant today because of mr. trump. i remember as a child when they called me colored boy and then they called me black and then african-american. they call me all types of names. pedro, i belong to a black family. pedro, you look like a colored man. you are a person of color. instead of calling black people colored people, they call people like you indian, mexican, japanese, and chinese, and whatever. they call you a person of color. listen to the black americans, the people of real color. we represent this country, not a

white person represents his country as far as i'm concerned. amen. praised god. host: if racism is your concern, how does an election fix it? caller: if you are a senator, you get elected for six years, right? if you are a congressperson, two years. why do we have to have senators always running for president of the united states? think about that. i like hakeem jeffries. from the house of representatives. why don't they have a chance to read for president? let me be honest with you, pedro. harris, i like her. i have to vote for her because i'm a democrat. but she used her color to gain where she is at.

and then on top of that -- host: you talk about issues of race but then you accuse the vice president of using her color to get where she is. isn't there a disconnect? caller: that is what i'm saying, she is using her color. host: but isn't there a disconnect from what you said previous? caller: if you are letter than a brown paper bag come you can pass as a white boy. you can pass as a white man. do you understand what i'm saying? host: i am asking you to clarify because you talked about issues of racism and then you related it to the color of the current vice president. caller: she used her color for her gain, racism. racism is she used race for her gain. she passes as a white woman, right? host: i don't think she is doing

that as all. caller: if you listen to me right now, i will tell you this right now, when she was running for president, she was the first person to drop out because no black american liked that woman. in the black community, light-skinned people get gains. do understand? host: we will leave it there. let's move it onto texas independent line. rachel, hello. caller: the economy. obama passed the recovery act in 2009 that started creating jobs. our economy was good when trump took office. trump passed the jobs act and also passed a tax cut. now they are saying that none of those created jobs. in fact, obama created a million more jobs than trump did. trump takes credit for veterans

choice that was passed in 2014 from obama. he took credit for that. let's talk about the men that were killed or soldiers killed in afghanistan. trump made a deal with the taliban leader. he did not make a deal with the president in afghanistan. host: if those are the issues, what is the top one for you this election cycle? caller: character. trump has no character. he attacks everybody. he is always whining about being picked on. he thinks he's the only 1 -- he doesn't have the backbone. if he can't take a little criticism -- i'm sorry. he does not need to be in office. he talks about the border? the border was better under the obama administration. in fact, he killed a bill that republicans and democrats put together. he told republican from oklahoma

-- trump said, do not pass that bill because it will make biden look good. host: if character is the main issue, who are you voting for and how would you gauge that person's character? caller: i am voting for harris. i cannot vote for a man that has been charged with rape -- host: it was sexual abuse, the go-ahead. caller: same thing. he penetrated with his hand or the other. the judge said he was charged with rape. host: so as far as character is concerned, what to apply to the vice president as far as character is concerned? caller: because she doesn't go out and tell women that they are ugly. trump doesn't care what he says. i mean come anybody that does not agree with him, he calls them names. what kind of person is that? he talks about grabbing women. he admits to saying it when he

was going to court with e. jean carroll. he admitted he was a star and a star could do anything they wanted to. that is why -- host: ray, montana, republican line. caller: hello. host: go-ahead. caller: i am a little bit confused about this election. i didn't know that mrs. harris has even got one vote. she hasn't been through a primary yet. i am still waiting to see that primary. the next thing is i am concerned is the economy. when i go down to buy vegetables or protein, i pay as much for the egg as i used to pay for the whole chicken. the next thing is fuel and so on. it is so high now, you can go to the grocery store to get robbed

by the democratic party. and i just feel that is a little unfair. the question came about, how do i feel as of four years ago? well, everything is more expensive. i think one of the problem is this the people coming across the border. we are a land of law. how can these people be admitted when they are breaking the law by coming across the border? that is not the way that you interpret law. and then if you come across the border come you get rewarded by getting free housing and free food and free whatever else and pick the people who have been here and served our country and worked for a living, we have to pay for these freeloaders that are coming across the border. host: finish your thought. caller: thank you. host: ray, montana, giving us

his thoughts. top issues for you in the audience when it comes to the election. you can call us. if you are on the line, if you would not mind, stay there for a few minutes. as we have been doing all morning, visiting with reporters in these battleground states, north carolina, one of those up for grabs this election cycle. here to talk about it is colin graham out of north carolina -- kyle ingram out of north carolina. political report just moved your state. talk about what you're saying on the ground and what makes it so. >> there's a real groundswell movement here. we have not seen this much enthusiasm by candidate for quite a while. when kamala harris came here a few weeks ago to raleigh, we had this exuberant crowd, we had our governor cooper say he is having the 2008 feeling again -- which

is the last time our state voted for a democrat. it is interesting to see if it will keep this momentum. host: when it comes to the state, give us the makeup of the state politically. guest: our largest group of voters is unaffiliated. she is going to have to be trying to target swing voters and see what happens here. we have not voted for a democrat since 2008, not for senate or president. we have a very republican legislature. but there is still that status nakedness purple and that large group of uncommitted voters. host: if that is the case, in your state, where is the battleground within the state, so to speak? what does the former president enjoy as far as support and the current vice president? where are the battleground between those? guest: we have blue strongholds in our big cities, reliably

voting democrat. the suburban areas, like any other battleground state, is where the election will be spun outpost of raleigh, voters are not sure. they are more swing voters. that is were issues like the economy, immigration, abortion will be deciding factors. >> there is a story late last week, they highlight an area of your state known as scotland county, saying that is a key area. if you would not mind elaborating on what that involves? guest: i am not sure what you're talking about but i believe it is one of our more rural counties. we have a very diverse mix of people, voters in this state. we have a significant portion of black voters determining this election based on turnout. it also comes to women voters and how they feel about this election. we have a candidate who's been making remarks about women in the past and polls have shown

him trailing his democratic opponents. that could be a driving issue among female voters as well. host: tell us about the ground game. what does it look like from both perspectives? guest: you have seen both candidates are coming here quite often before the change in the top of the ticket. truck had not really pay that much attention to north carolina this campaign cycle but now he has been here four times. he is coming to charlotte again this week and kamala harris has been coming here quite a lot as well. it was significant she chose raleigh as a location for her first major policy speech when she unveiled her policies on corporate price gouging and first-time homebuyers. people 11 asking her, what are your palaces going to be. when she finally chose, she did it here. i think it is obvious both campaigns are taking north carolina very seriously. host: you say it is interesting she chose raleigh. what is it about raleigh?

why do you think she chose that area? guest: she was originally scheduled to come here for larger campaign rally. when hurricane debby came through, they had to postpone. raleigh is home to many democrat leaders. again, we have the suburban and outlying areas that are a lot more mixed politically. it could be an attempt to target some of those as well. host: you wrote, "first of it or digit iapproved by north carolina election board." can you elaborate? guest: we are going to our first ever presidential election that requires idea north carolina. that bill was passed a while ago. but the state board of elections did was allow differing student and employee ids to be used for voting as well. the university of north carolina chapel hill has been transitioning to this digital id model for the students where you can verify your identity on an

app and use that to access all sorts of student services. they asked the state board of elections if that can be designated as a valid voting idea in the state board of elections gave them direct qualifications they have to me to do so. the university met those and the board approved it, but it wasn't partyline -- it was party-line vote. the democrats voted in favor of it and republicans voted against. i would not be surprised if we see a lawsuit. host: how does it work in practical use? guest: the students will have to go through a verification process with their phone and using the app to get the idea. i believe once the authorized their identity through the app, they will no longer be able to use their physical id. they have to use the one on the phone. the one on the phone does include their birthdate i believe and has an expiration date, which were two things the state board of election needed to see to approve and. host: i want to ask about some

of the down ballot races. before i ask about specifics, you talk about the vice president. i suppose that changes the down ballot as well? guest: we are all interested to see what this effect has on down ballot races if this is a motivating get out the vote issue for democrats or republicans who are opposed to her. host: first district north carolina, don davis, democrat versus republican. can you talk about this race? guest: this is interesting because it is north carolina's only competitive congressional district. right now our congressional delegation is evenly split 7-7. this time around, the republicans had more say over creating the electoral maps and made it more favorable to republicans. this is one everyone will be watching. don davis is a more moderate democrat. he is had to walk a tightrope in this district, mixed

politically. he is going up against lori bookout -- buckhout. the gop was this seat. if we end up having a very close u.s. house race nationwide, this district could be one of the decisive factors. host: there is the governor's race. a lot of credit probably over the last romans concerning this race. talk about those in the race and where it stands currently. guest: josh stein is the attorney general. he is close to our current governor. he is going up against our lieutenant governor. he sort of came to viral fame after this speech he gave in greensboro about then rights. quite a firebrand. a lot of past comments have

resurfaced from him. he said things about the lgbtq community, jewish people, women. he has sort of try to tamped down that rhetoric lately. he recently came out with an ad where he is talking about supporting north carolina's current 12 week abortion ban. it doesn't seem to be working yet at least. polls show stein pretty far ahead of robinson in the race. we will have to see if he is able to take back that lead. host: back to the race overall, particularly for president. what are you watching for between now and november? guest: i want to see -- first of all, the principles in this campaign come how many more times they will be coming here and what issues they are going to be hitting on. i think you'll see democrats strongly on abortion here because this will be the first election north carolina has held

since the state enacted its 12 week abortion ban. we don't know what the electoral consequences, if any, of that are going to be. is it going to be threatening republicans since they're happy with that and maybe want to see further changes or will it drive out democrats who are extremely upset by it? i think you're going to see democrats focused strongly on that. but republicans, trump specifically, will be speaking about immigration, talking -- we are not a border state, but they will be focusing on that pretty heavily here. and the economy. everyone has been hit hard by the rising inflation and i think they will try to bring out north carolina voters on that issue. host: if you want to see is reporting on this campaign come he serves as a politics reporter for the newspaper. thank you for your time. back to your calls. thank you for waiting. this is frank, florida, democrat line. go ahead.

your top issue for this year. caller: my top issue for this year is the economy, immigration , and character. i know i want have a chance to speak on all those issues, but the economy, i am voting for harris because i think 90% or smaller, might be 80%, of the prices, inflation is caused by corporate greed. i like her policy on holding corporations accountable for some of the things they do. immigration is a concern as much as all the misinformation i'm hearing about taxpayers paying for housing for illegal aliens. i don't like that republican talking points because i think it is a half-truth and one of those buzz issues. that's it.

host: and character? caller: character? i can't see what we would ever vote for somebody who has been convicted of crimes and wishy-washy and talk this and tell lies all the time. that is most impossible -- every time i hear are former president go on the air, he has some different angle on this and that. and all the people who vote for him take those talking points and run without researching the truth of the issue. most of those issues are lies. i live in the neighborhood that, i have asians, mexicans, whether they are illegal aliens or what, they need to have their employers check their verification form to see if they are illegal.

they are making money and paying taxes as far as i can see most of property is well-kept. host: ok. george, maryland, independent line. caller: hello. good morning, pedro. my main concern is i want to see some more focus on the solvency of social security and try to eliminate taxes on social security and pension for all retirees. because if you look, the combined income, pension and social security, if it is below the last salary for retirement, i don't see why they should be taxing it. if you look at some of these municipalities, they are deliberately writing -- raising the value of the property.

some of the senior citizens have to pay stack says -- have to pay taxes on the property. some of them have to pay for medication. they have to drive to appointments. they have to do a lot of things with a little bit of money. it is people what some of these -- evin what some mages somehow these are doing. -- it is evil was summing disabilities are doing. if you look historically, when they establish social security, there has been effort to derail it. if you look -- republican party has been trying to do everything to derail it. i would give it to -- even though i am independent, i would give it to the democrat would

probably do something with social security. america is getting old. the workforce is getting old. if you don't do something with that right now, it is going to be a lot of old senior citizens on the streets that can't afford to live because the municipalities, like i said, raising the value of property. if you are taxing social security, a little bit of pension, how are they going to pay -- how are they going to live? host: is george there, maryland? a couple of articles you can pull from the source, financial magazine kiplinger, they have a couple of articles taking a look at social security. they say when it comes to the one former president how trump addressed social security approaching prices, believed a stronger economy would naturally sustain social security. become a growth and job creation

would boost payroll tax revenues, thereby supporting the program. however, experts mostly agree economic growth alone isn't enough to solve the issues that face social security. they have an article taking look at the biden-harris administration under social security that says under the biden administration, harris supported the retention and expansion of social security with the objective to reform the program. also endorsed president biden's plan to raise taxes on americans earning $400,000 or more per year. there is more there on these articles if you want to read it when it comes to social security, kiplinger.com is the website if you want to check those out for yourself. bill, florida, republican line. the top issue this election? good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? i two top things would be

democracy, the way this country has been heading, and the economy. both are intertwined. i hear people calling in, from a general standpoint, everything i hear about trump's personality, whatever he may or may not have done in the past, convicted of crimes come and things along those lines. there was such a fervor to have him convicted -- i don't think people would have been so upset about this. back to my points come couple called in on the prices. the prices are fuel-related. the other lady and general insane corporate greed, i don't think that is so much of an issue.

it is easy to say that. but from an economic standpoint, it is an input of cost of those products. the last thing, everybody keeps talking about the future going forward on the democratic side. this future. i still don't hear a plan. what is the plan for the future? that they try to implement? taxes has been the greatest engine for hundreds of years ever since it started. it is always worked best for the individual, which is what we want to try to concern ourselves with. my final point, c-span is the closest thing we can get your free speech in this country. fox and the others, they all have their biases, msnbc, the rest. c-span is the closest you can

get. with that in mind, would really be great to see the truth come out from two people in opposite sides. i don't know if you have trouble getting people. but if you can get two people to really discuss these issues in a truthful manner, it would be a big benefit to this country. host: bill, thank you. you are a longtime watcher because you know the last point, particularly, at times, we do forums where we have two positions represented whether it be with people who are in think tanks or maybe even legislators legislators and the like come together and debate ideas, sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't. we have individuals on. you are a keen observer of the show and how we do things. thanks for watching. let's hear from sal.

connecticut. democrats align david caller: pedro, i have been trying to get in so long, i got in the shower, but i have a parody song that i want to recite to you. happy labor day. host: ok. caller: it is true, it is true, the polls will make it clear, kamala will be our president next year. there will be no more ♪ denying an election no more creating insurrection the votes will clearly show who must win and who will go with kamala there will be no talk of bleach injection no lies and false this direction no more orange people clan to jerk us all around ♪ host: we will let it sit there.

again, as you call in over the morning, the lines if you wish to pick the one that best represents you, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. the chance to express your opinions, i guess you can sing them if you want. i don't know if i want to invite that anyway. we have been joined by reporters in battleground states to give us a sense of what is going on. when it comes to a battleground state, why do you think yours is such? guest: you look back at the past election cycles.

joe biden being the first democrat to win the state of georgia since 1992 on the presidential side. we have gotten used to this. we in georgia used to joke about what was happening down in florida with tight elections, all the commercials. we are seeing that now in georgia, commercials all the time, and candidates all the time. candidates would only make a handful of visits in 2000, 2004. now it's all the time. host: remind our viewers come the last presidential election, who won the state, how might it change this time around? guest: president biden won by less than 12,000 votes. it is one of the reasons why you saw former president trump trying to have the results overturned here in georgia. it is also why you are seeing so much money poured into the state , because it could be close again. host: if that is the case, where

are the key parts of the state that both sides will be paying attention to? guest: what has changed as you are seeing candidates on both side focus on every part of the state. for example, just last week, vice president harris campaigning on the coast near savannah about one stop out in rural georgia. the deputy campaign manager told us, if you go to those counties and tried to get those handful of votes, and you have seen this in previous elections -- same for republicans coming into atlanta, going after black male voters. then of course there are the northern suburbs in atlanta where using swing voters who come two years ago, a handful of voted for brian kemp as governor, democratic u.s. senator rafael warnock.

those are signs that you will see people fighting for. host: traveling on that bus tour, large scale, what was their message as they made the stops? guest: focusing on areas outside of atlanta. for ever, use our just focus on atlanta. then you saw former president trump, his rallies are in rural areas like peer week, georgia, rome. the whole state of georgia has become a battleground payment that is what you saw, basically some of the messaging from vice president harris. host: i imagine with states still up and play, you are seeing outside forces come to support both candidates. give us a sense of who is coming in, the money being provided here? guest: you just have to look at my emailed.

there is always a surrogate coming to the state, today, tomorrow, secretary, cabinet secretary in the biden administration. you have the human rights campaign president coming down to georgia. today we had an afl-cio leader leaving you are seeing surrogate after surrogate come to the state to make their argument for both sides. host: as far as ground campaigns are concerned, what are you seeing? guest: first of all, you are seeing lots of campaign office is open on both sides. you are seeing a lot of volunteer sign up on both sides. it is not just campaign offices in the atlanta metro area, it's in every city around the state. you see the harris campaign opening up outside the city of atlanta. the trump campaign opening campaign after campaign, dozens

when you add them together. you are seeing the ground game being built. the audience may know, the feud between former president trump and georgia's governor. governor kemp talked about this. his political machine is very powerful in the state. he made clear it has been working on the ground since july on behalf of the former president. host: as we talk about georgia, you are facing a lot of focus on the election, how an election is run. with this coming election, are there changes that we see different from previous elections? guest: one of the most important ones that kicked in just last week. we had another bill dealing with voting and elections. senate bill 199. it made it easier for the path of third-party candidate to get on the ballot. green party candidate jill stein

use that to get on the ballot. since 2004, we've only had a republican, democrat, and libertarian on the ballot in georgia. this time, we will have six candidates, including the green party's jill stein, claudia delacruz, cornell west. there are also new rules on voter challenges. we are almost in that window where those order challenges can happen, current voters in the state of georgia. yes, you saw changes. the biggest and most important thing is how much elections and voting here in georgia are fought in the courts and on the appointed officials. not just elected officials like the secretary of state brad raffensperger, but also appointed officials, whether on the state election board or in the court.

host: when it comes to the election process, in previous years, concerns about security, accuracy of election. what is the state doing to prepare itself? guest: but secretary of state, as i mentioned, is traveling the state, arguing the state is doing health checks, the system is safe and secure, but again, you have that small minority of people who absolutely believe there will be some funny business. you heard the former president talk about in his speech, the idea that if democrats win georgia, they have somehow cheated. you are seeing efforts by local election officials, telling the public what is happening, but then you have those who absolutely believe that that is not the case. host: what are you watching out for this election day? guest: we have six candidates on the ballot.

i'm looking forward to seeing a poll, what it looks like with six candidates in the state of georgia. you have basically added three candidates to the left of vice president harris. the polls have been showing harris up in georgia in one or two points. what happens when you bring in a green party candidate, independent candidate, how will that change the numbers? of course, i'm watching the ads on different issues, for example, what is president trump's position on abortion? you are seeing a lot of ads around southern border security aimed at vice president harris. i would love to see a pole with the six candidates, how many visits we will get this time around from the top principles. host: tell us about wabe. guest: we are an npr affiliate

in the city of atlanta, public broadcasting. it is great to work at a station like that. we have a two-man politics team but plenty of other reporters out in the field covering the effort to get black male voters, the effort to get women voters, the issues around abortion, what is happening in georgia since the abortion ban kicked in in 2022. a great radio station where we can go deeper on issues. we can put five or six reporters at the state capital. great radio station that i love working for. host: wabe.org, political reporter for the station, thank you for giving us your time this morning. happy labor day. let's go to stephen in connecticut. thanks for waiting. independent line. your top issue this election? caller: i love that report. c-span is the best.

this has been a great show this morning. i've been following georgia, it is really dynamic, exciting to watch. i just want to die deeper on raul mentioning the election boards. they just put in these two rules. in the rules, it talks about delaying the vote. it almost looks like racketeering. i don't know why georgia governor kemp doesn't just put a stop to it. if not, why isn't the u.s. justice department stepping in? they had put it out in writing. i don't know. that is one thing i'm following. on the other thing i'm following is florida because of abortion. you see today, he economy is number one, but underneath is abortion. why?

american women do not like to be told what to do. women in florida do not like to be told what to do. you will see president trump give a nod toward the abortion initiative. he was the one to set it up to kick roe v. wade out, so if he is pro that initiative, you know that is a strong thing. if president trump loses florida, it is because of abortion david those are the things i'm watching. the headline is the economy, but as you see from these reporters, abortion is a sleeper issue. host: rex in west virginia. republican line. caller: pedro, good morning to you, happy labor day. my thing is the economy and immigration david economy, i

have been driving trucks for 41 years. i have seen the price of fuel go sky high, come back down, but they have a higher this time than it has in the past. it is hard to make a living out here trying to pay these prices we have to pay. the price of food and stuff, you cannot make a living. it is downright ridiculous on the prices and stuff. on the immigration side, i was watching something -- has not been covered here, not many stations. in aurora, colorado, venezuelans walk into an apartment complex, ar-15's, handguns, all kinds of stuff, knocking doors open, telling people to get out. why can't we do something about that?

they said they cannot do anything because they don't know who they are. it is on videotape. what is the problem with the law in the united states? we cannot get these illegal immigrants out of here. trump wants to try and do it, but every time he tries to do something, they are against him. they fight him. they thought him for four years. he wasn't even president and they started an impeachment on him. host: ok. let's hear from diane in ohio. democrat line. caller: good morning, pedro. i have two issues. one of them is women's rights. even in ohio, we agree with the abortion law. the thing is, it didn't enact for the full coverage. it has a limit. most people in ohio didn't realize that. number two is immigration, but

not the way that people are thinking. migrants are the ones that are keeping our food cheaper. if we get rid of the migrants, we will not be able to eat because there is no want to pick the food, no want to work in e meatpacking companies. ent comes to these people talking about migrants getting free stuff, in the state of io -- and i know this is true because my sister worked at the welfare department -- you cannot get food stamps, cannot get medicare -- medicaid -- unless you are a resident of the united states. it is the churches that are giving away these things. people keep talking about the government. until the churches become government, there is no way. when it comes to housing, i don't know. i don't know how that works.

i don't have any idea. host: that is diane in ohio. the folks at ugov put out a pole in july, talking about the top problems the united states is facing. you may want to relate that to the top issue this election. not surprising,: we have seen, inflation at the top of the list. 64% saying it's a serious problem. followed by the general idea of corruption, drug abuse, followed by homelessness. coming in at number five is the weakening of democracy. then it goes to talk about housing, crime, immigration, gu. if you want to take a look at it, it reflects several poles we have been showing you this morning, talking about those issues that you might have, might be an issue that may drive

what you do this november, who you will vote for. let us know what your top issue is. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. we will keep going until 10:00, taking your calls mainly, taking short breaks to talk to reporters in battleground states on this labor day. let's go to robert in maryland, independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. i wanted to speak to you this morning about kamala harris' tax proposal she put forward a month ago. she wants to put a 25% tax on unrealized gains. that's a very fancy word for the equity in your house. for example, if you bought a house for $300,000, and the house is now worth $400,000,

that is a $100,000 unrealized gain. you would have to pay $25,000 to the federal government every year that you possess this house , and if your house appreciates in that time period, this will never end. you are already paying county, state taxes for your property tax. she is proposing this tax. this affects every homeowner in the united states. look into it. that is what you proposing, a 25% tax on the equity in your home, america. this would destroy the housing market in this country. she said this. do not take my word for it. she got up on stage and said it. unrealized gain applies to the equity in your home, america. if you bought that house and you

have $100,000 of equity in your home, you would have to pay $25,000 annually on top of your regular property taxes. host: robert in maryland. showing you this idea of unrealized gains from the poynter institute saying currently unrealized gains are not subject to federal tax. kamala harris says she supports this, president biden's proposal, 25% for those individuals with more than $100 million in wealth. most americans would not be subject to such tax. fewer than 10,000 people in the u.s. with a net worth of over $100 million. last week on this program, we invited friday or saturday, a

segment looking at tax proposals, not only of vice president harris but also former president trump. if you want to check that segment, other issues that we have done with taxation, other issues with campaign 2024, go to c-span.org. check it out for yourself. bill in new york. republican line. caller: thank you. my main issue is the gasoline, and what has happened, just trying to use common sense, not even getting political. previous to the biden harris administration, gas was probably $2.10 a gallon.

i looked up executive orders. i didn't go through any newspaper, i went to the government website. there is still a pause that the biden administration put on for drilling in the united states on public land. ever since that went on, prices of gas, as everyone knows, shot through the roof, seven dollars a gallon. that has sustained over the last four years. if everyone was honest with themselves, regardless of what party they are -- we are on fixed income. i have to go to my savings account more so than ever to help pay for just regular food. forget about going out to a restaurant anymore. we feel it.

if people were honest with themselves, they would feel it. the reason why, when they stopped the drilling, -- it is not price gouging. it is that the cost went up for the people transporting our products to the grocery stores and other places. it cost them more to put gasoline in the trucks. host: ok. caller: that is what's happening. we are paying for it. that executive order has to be reversed. host: let's go to theodora, south dakota. democrats line. caller: good morning. can you hear me?

ok, hi. i'm a native american tribal member here on the reservation in south dakota. my concerns are this immigration. i don't understand why people are not complaining about cubans . i am sure they are crossing over florida and coming in that way. why are they not complaining about those immigrants? instead, they are all complaining about south america. at one point, we used to be north america and they were south america. no everyone is complaining about everyone in mexico, venezuela. maybe these people in cuba, too. who knows.

i don't want to offend anybody on the line, and human listening, but you all are immigrants. everyone except for the native indians who were here on this country. it was because of the european doctrine of discovery. where the pope said if they are not christian, not catholic, then they are in human. that is where they considered us inhumane. host: theodore in south dakota. let's go to don and south dakota -- in south dakota. independent line. caller: i want to touch on the affordable care act, it didn't go in our country except for a couple of states like our state. the reason on talking about it is because of the accountability

for receiving medicaid, my understanding, my research, a lot of states and their representatives in their states, our for medicaid -- are for medicaid, which are my tax dollars paying for that. i'm a firm believer talking on this labor day that you have to earn it. if you get medicaid or also had the infrastructure that monitors social security, who gets it, as far as the proper infrastructure to vet that, then you have to earn it, you have to work for it. example, you get medicaid, you get social security, unless you are retired, 65 and over, 55 and over, and you have earned it from your working years, you have to get on a bus and one or

two days a week, there needs to be a system in place for accountability and having to pay for that. host: don in california. next we hear from larry in texas. republican line. your top election issue. caller: good morning. my issue really go hand-in-hand. of course, immigration and the economy. back in the day, 2020, when biden-harris got elected, they must have put together 18 and brainstormed the result of what they were going to do. to crash the economy, flood it with illegals, sacrifice the

collateral damage that immigration has done in particular, is totally off the wall. i think that issue will hit them hard in this next election. host: larry in texas. republican line. let's go to lula in ohio. democrats line. you are going to have to turned on your television real quick. caller: hello. host: you have to turned on your television. you are on. go ahead. caller: ok. i talked about the issue that i'll be voting for, democracy. i feel without democracy, all these issues people are talking about really won't matter. i think the top issue is

democracy the selection -- this election. host: what do you mean by that? caller: my right to vote, my right to have a vote in the country. my rights as a woman, my rights as a human being to put my voice forward. democracy is voting. voting your issues. having a choice in that. host: do you believe those rights are being threatened, why? caller: i believe they are being threatened. project 2025 lays out what we will get and not get. it is out there in black-and-white. 2025 tells it all. host: just about finishing up our second hour, taking a look

at your top issue when it comes to the selection. as far as guests are concerned, speaking to various reporters throughout the show, which you have seen already. we will largely hear from you as we hear your concerns. phone lines, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001, republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text us if you wish, (202) 748-8003. here are some of those coming in this m. sue and whiting, new j aging society.w to care for our isn't the best idea to put our elderly in nursing homes to be cared for by strangers? remember how poorly the taken care of during the pandemic. this is a viewer, ted i york, say is taxes.

why are we not listening to taxes on the wealthy?ys raise why are we listening to the five times crept former president of the united states. when it comes to top issues, th is mk saying stop project 2025. you can add yours to the mix via text. facebook page is always open, x feed is open as well. as we start on this final hour of the program this morning, david starts us off, san francisco, independent line. caller: i hope you have a good labor day. you mentioned the five times bankrupt donald trump. we have to consider the moral bankruptcy that that fellow has.

it is not just five times. he tries to be morally bankrupt every day. i get a particular joy with messing with texas. i can give two different opportunities for the people of america to mess with texas. everybody knows the rental prices of real estate, renting a house, apartment, has gone up fantastically the last couple months. it is all directly due to the corrupt real estate broker of texas, harlan crow. if you go to his website, crowholdings.com, he owns land all over america. the business license in the other 49 states could be yanked if people got up on their hind legs and that it. this guy is utterly corrupt.

he owns land all over america. the second thing we need to do with texas is free the maga sl aves. last year, it got to be 109 for two months straight. all of july and into august, it was 109 degrees. the corrupt legislature of texas put together a law, hb 2127, that said businesses didn't need to give a water break two people working. they didn't need to give them a water break when it was 109 degrees. that law is still in effect. the slaves of texas, just like juneteenth, i am telling the people of texas, they still don't have the right to get a water break when they are working. host: jim is next in florida.

republican line. caller: earlier in the show you had a pull from abc showing harris up by four. box on tuesday had one showing trump up by two. a number of years ago i was called to participate in political polling which i agreed to. they asked me a battery of questions, no more than 10 after one of them they said how old are you? at that time i said i was 40. sorry, we are only pulling voters from 21 to 35. i have no problem with that, but why didn't you ask in the beginning? you didn't get the answers you want, so we then you say, you should have asked me at the beginning, when is your age, and then you would say we are not pulling that group. but you asked me a battery of

questions, you don't get what you want, so then you asked me how old i am. you need to eliminate that. that three people you had on from michigan, north carolina, georgia, if they are not democrats, i tell you what, you can tell by their voice and the way they talk. it is a wonder if you don't have a sign behind you saying about harris-walz. it seems you are leaning very strongly today in favor -- host: we take no position on that. if you have watch this program long enough, you would realize that. thanks for the input. talking to folks throughout the morning when it comes to the various battleground states. arizona, no exception this time around. jim small, the editor of the arizona mirror, joining us for a discussion, looking at his state, where it stands. the arizona mirror, tell us about it. guest: arizona mirror is a local

nonprofit newspaper covering government and policy, part of the state room network, newsrooms in state capitals and i want to say 39 states across the country. we launched almost six years ago this month actually, right in the middle of the 2018 election cycle. we have our eyes focused on november 5, covering our election in arizona, a state that has long been deep red, now is a battleground state. host: since you have been doing this since 2018, what has changed from then to now? guest: politics in general across the nation has become more intense for people on all sides of all issues really. particularly in arizona, and activation of younger voters. our electorate has shifted pretty dramatically in the last 15 years, going from a lot more

heavily white, retired voters into a lot of younger, particularly latino voters. the youth vote here has really turned out in ways that were unexpected the last six years, starting in 2018, repeating in 2020, 2022. campaigns are really looking toward those younger voters in 2024. a lot of campaigns are pinning their hopes on those borders showing up in larger than expected numbers. host: when it comes to the younger voters in the state, which way do they skew? guest: just like nationally, they tend to skew pretty heavily toward democratic candidates. not exclusively, but i think we have seen a huge uptick in enthusiasm and younger voters

splitting more for democrats at the top of the ticket, more so since kamala harris entered the ticket. there has been a real, noted enthusiasm among younger voters, democrats in general. they are out, we are seeing a lot more signs that that group of voters will turn out, show up at the polls and possibly record numbers, in ways that we saw in 2020 in particular, huge years were younger voters. host: correct me if i'm wrong, joe won in 2020, donald trump won in 2016. if that is the case, where do you think they have to concentrate to gain voters they don't already have?

guest: i think arizona really is the epitome of a tossup state right now. we see that in the polling. it will very likely come down to the turnout game, which side can motivate their base to show up with a little more intensity. that has clearly been the republican's game, the trump campaign's game since 2016, motivating the base. democrats have generally worked to attract more independent, undecided swing voters. there seems to be a lot fewer swing voters. biden's exit really got rid of those double haters, who would set out, or vote for a third-party candidate. now that that dynamic has

shifted, you are seeing a lot of those undecided voters really coalescing behind harris by and large. that pool of voters is a lot smaller. it will come down to turnout. democrats are now working very hard to try and activate some of those groups that were a little bit lethargic with the biden nominee. latino voters, women voters, younger voters, the three main camps that democrats in arizona and other battleground states will try hard to get registered and get to the polls on election day. host: how vibrant are the ground game for either candidate? guest: democrats have a much more robust ground game. there has been a lot of coverage in arizona, some nationally about how the trump campaign and the republican national committee have really taken the ground game and outsourced it to

third-party groups, advocacy groups like turning point usa, other groups. instead of having that more traditional party bases where you have that network volunteers, employees, seasonal campaign workers out there on the ground canvassing neighborhoods, democrats are still doing that, but there are groups constantly involve working with the party. on the republican side, it's a lot more muted, more aimed at pouring the money into television and, trying to contact rotering that way, setting the tone that way. democrats are much more active, walking neighborhoods, talking to campaigns on my doorstep. i live in a fairly conservative area of phoenix and even still the folk coming to our doors are

for the democratic candidates running for local office here. host: let's talk about the down ballot. ruben gallego, kari lake, contest for the senate. where does the stand today? guest: generally polling shows ruben gallego, congressman from the west part of phoenix, has a lead in the race. different polls show different amounts. some surveys have put him up 11, 12 points up in the race, which is an incredibly commanding lead, if those poles are accurate. i think this is a situation where you have a republican nominee who really has a lot of negatives, has struggled to connect with voters in general. in particular even with republican voters. kari lake lost the governor's race in 2022 by about 70,000

votes, but she still lost. the reason she lost, independent voters didn't care for her, largely sided with katie hobbs. there were a large number of republican voters who either voted for hobbs or set out entirely. a lot of analysis showing there were some 35,000 republican voters who voted for republican down the ticket and skipped the governor's race. that would have been enough for kari lake to win, had she been able to convince those voters. one thing that she had done to alienate herself, this crusade against john mccain and the mccain family. republican activists may not like mccain, never really liked him here, but the broad electorate does, and they hold him in high esteem. trashing him, telling them that

they are not welcome in the party, really had a resident message for voters. that message is, she doesn't want me, that's fine, i don't want her. we see that dynamic playing out here as well. host: your assessment of house races, dave schleicher, other races in the sixth district. guest: absolutely. those are both high target races for democrats. they have been for a while. they are the state's two competitive races. david has been in danger in the past, i don't know if he is this year. this will be his toughest reelection race. shah is a democrat but moderate, former state legislator, burnished his credentials as a lawmaker working across the aisle.

to the point where a lot of democrats were even frustrated with him at certain points. he worked his way through a crowded, six-person field and that primary. schweikert has faced a number of ethics scandals over the years, has generally not been terribly challenged. 2022, he did win a close race, a percentage point, so democrats see that as a ticket -- pickup. in the tucson area, ciscomani, finishing up his first term, competitive first term, essentially successor to gabby gifford's district. for the last 20 years, it's been going back and forth between republicans and democrats. democrats see ciscomani as someone who is too extreme, too

close to the trunk cap. -- trump camp. they are painting him as someone who is out of line with a more moderate district. the former legislator, kristin engel, as try to moderate some of her positions to fit into that district a little bit. but these races, in a lot of ways, will rise and fall on the coattails of what happened with the harris and truck campaigns. if one of those candidates has a strong showing, it will bolster their party's candidates down the ticket. host: this even extends a little further because you wrote a story looking at your state's legislature and how it may change due to this year's election. guest: arizona really is, from top to bottom, a battleground right now. the state legislature for the past four years, republicans have held each chamber by a single seat.

democrats, for the 20 plus years i've been covering the state capital, have always come into elections saying this will be our year, will really make a run for it, but never really materialized. this year may be different. they have been laying the groundwork since the 2022 cycle, looking at this as a we are going to make him a push, try to swing for the fences on the legislature. if the democrats could capture both houses in the legislature, it would be the first time since 1965 that democrats have controlled the state capital. with a democratic governor, katie hobbs sitting in the executive, you see democrats excited for the possibilities. in order to pull that off, they do have to shoot the moon, get everything right. there were only a handful of competitive legislative seats, may be eight in total out of 90.

they are out in force. republicans see the direct, they have been marshaling their forces to defend these seats, pickup some, surprise democrats in some races where they are not looking. these are races that tip we don't get a whole lot of attention in the local press, in the minds of local voters, but they are the ones that will most affect everyone who shows up to cast a ballot in arizona. host: azmirror.com is where you can find their work. jim small, thank you for the time. thank you to those of you waiting on the line. this is clarence in minnesota. the top issue this election cycle? caller: good morning this labor day, america, pedro. i want to say, trump denied the

result of a fair election. how can you accept someone who will not accept a peaceful transition of power? it has been proven time and again we had a fair election. that simple. a much better alternative than electing a professional lawyer. -- liar. trump is a fascist. as a veteran, democracy is the most important thing in my life. republicans, what is it about democracy that you don't like? if you don't have democracy, you have nothing. democracy is security. every other issue as far as i'm concerned is just noise. host: thank you. republican next in virginia. caller: good morning. just like the gentleman said, lies are not democracy. i keep hearing people talk about donald trump was convicted of rape.

he wasn't. if he was, he would be in jail. we do forget there was a lady by the name of blanche brown, wife and mother of three, the wife of willie brown, someone kamala harris want you to forget about. think about next time they throw rocks in glass houses. host: tennessee. go ahead. caller: good morning, listeners. my main issue is the government spending. if the spending is under control, everything would be all right, like a formation of a building. if the foundation is correct, the building has a better chance of surviving. spending is the key issue. the country is not running like it is supposed to be. i see some of the underlying roots. stop being a compassionate country but be practical in running the country. medicaid takes in $300 million

in taxes, spends $900 million. how is that going to work? if the government spending is taking care of the economy, it would have been taken care of by itself. stop this $25,000 thing for housing. in the long run, it only hurts the economy. stop getting free money to the citizens. stop the student loan forgiveness. stop scrutinizing the filings of the people. according to cnbc, 94% of the filings are all paid. that is what my main issue is. government spending has to be under control. host: do you think the former president has a good record under spending? caller: no, he does not. i was trying to be on the independent line. host: i'm going to stop you there. we try to keep people to the line that best represents the. let's refresh the lines.

democrats, (202) 748-8000, the number to call if that is you. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. pick the best line that represents you, call on that line. we will try to get as many calls as possible during this time together. gavin is in rhode island, democrats line. caller: hi. i am a young democrat. i am 18. a lot of the things that jim and the caller said after kind of hit me hard. i am a young american. i feel like democracy in a sense is being lost to what it is. i guess what i'm trying to say is, you look at the heritage foundation creating this project 2025, you look at ballot elections possibly being changed

or discombobulated in the mess. i feel like if there is no winning, our states could be lost to an authoritarian nation. i am afraid that this country could be lost to project 2025, to fascism. that is just my thought. host: when it comes to project 2025, what are you most concerned about what is in it? caller: i am concerned about the immigration laws, all of the segregation per se. lgbtq rights are lost, you cannot change your gender, without being -- your parents being told.

you have other issues such as race. we know about immigration policies, abortion. a lot of these things have already been lost. the thing about project 2025, what it will commence, we will have trump basically invulnerable to other sources, other watchdogs. it is very threatening because trump will be the first one to have this. the heritage foundation is also very conservative. host: i suppose you have heard trump disavow project 2025, some of the surrogates as well. i suspect you don't believe that. why? caller: trump seems to lie. he is very strong with his opinions. he is very wishy-washy.

he surrounds himself with yes men. when he is lost on the problem, he denies them. the thing that i see that is most troubling with it, if you cannot escape from the issue, you try to hide from them. but they always recur once again. host: i don't know if you have decided who you will vote for, but if that is the case, how did you come to that conclusion? caller: i would like to vote for kamala harris because i think she has the best representation for a community that she follows. better phrasing. basically, we had obama, as a black american,, then hillary clinton lost to trump. i think this would be a good representation of the community we want to see as a president.

that is just my personal opinion. host: gavin in rhode island. let's hear from michael in rhode island. independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. my main question was about inflation. what i want to point out, the biden harris administration wanted to get the student loan repayments going. the supreme court said no to that multiple times. i think this is a red herring when kamala harris says she will offer a $25,000 to get housing under control. she is not addressing the root causes which is the supply, driven up may be by the immigration issue with all the people coming in, the rent is coming up, lack of supply. furthermore, she doesn't have a plan to reduce the cost. thank you. host: michael in florida. again, we are asking people about the top issues when it

comes to election day. you can throw yours into the mix by calling in on the lines. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you saw the republican national convention in wisconsin. you saw vice president harris and tim walz visit wisconsin, suggesting it is a battleground state. with us now is statehouse reporter jack kelly. mr. kelly, good morning. answer the why question for us, why wisconsin? guest: why is wisconsin a battleground state? pretty much why is it not? the elections here are very narrowly divided whether it is the presidential race, governor race, u.s. senate race. one third of voters identify as independents and they have proven to be quite fickle over the last decade or so and who they are going to back. donald trump was the first republican to win wisconsin's

presidential vote since 2004. joe biden in 2020. it has gone back and forth over the last few years. pretty much everywhere you turn, all signs point to wisconsin being a battleground state. host: you talk about fickleness. where is the fickleness trending this time around, if there is a way to measure that? guest: the polling that many people look at. wisconsin always seemed to be the best battleground state for president biden when he was the candidate. continues to be one of the more favorable states for vice president kamala harris. democrats enjoy a massive ground game advantage here. the state democratic party of wisconsin has absolutely run circles around his republican counterparts when it comes to fundraising. they maintain this enormous organizing staff throughout the state. that has really shown it can be

quite effective over the last few years in wisconsin. democrats have won 15 of the last 18 state races. the polling looks good if you are a democrat in wisconsin. of course, we know that things are always tight. the last two presidential races have been decided by about 20,000 votes each. host: if i had my information correct, the former president in the state last week, tim walz will be there today. where are the areas that this campaign is focusing on? guest: the former president was in la crosse, western wisconsin, tim walz will be in milwaukee today. he was in milwaukeejd vance is y week and it is not surprising they are targeting the swingiest parts of wisconsin. the milwaukee suburbs, waukesha county. they are targeting western

wisconsin which is a place democrats used to take well in and have fallen off in the trump team are, trying to win back a few thousand voters from that park and then they've been targeting swing counties in the state. 50-50 counties in kenosha county bring we saw president trump visit green bay. they are targeting the places where they need to change a couple thousand mines at a time, but a couple thousand mines at a time in four or five counties gets you to the 20,000 vote margin which is what you need to win. host: we've heard tim walz and jd vance being assigned to track federal voter like the ones in wisconsin. who do you think has the power of attraction at this point? guest: they certainly bring

different things to the table. one of the first big events of the harris campaign took place in western wisconsin in eau claire. tim walz was there and they drew a big crowd. jd vance has also drawn folks to his events and is engaging in a different way. it's hard to say who exactly endears themselves to voters more. i will say to some degree from a cultural perspective our neighbors in minnesota are similar to folks in wisconsin. they are very reminiscent of the state fairs we have in wisconsin. i do not think there's any way to tell for certain but i will say folks seem to be quite energized and as we've seen across the country turning out in droves with kamala harris and tim walz. people have been turning out in droves to see former president trump, we haven't seen as much

engagement with jd vance but has been doing smaller scale events. host: a lot of offices and ground games for either of the candidates there? guest: especially the harris campaign, i forgive the -- i forget the exact figure but it's something like 40 offices across the state and counties that former president trump won in 2020. going back to the idea if your democrat and almost that lose by less mentality if you can pick up a couple thousand votes in these counties across western and central wisconsin that goes a long way when you're milking everywhere you can out of milwaukee. those extra votes can go a long way for securing the win. >> i want to talk about the senate race there in wisconsin. tammy baldwin there. where it stands today and what should people watch for. guest: i think people should

watch for a bit of tightening in the polling trade we saw this last week and a college poll which showed it at a one point race. that seems to be an outlier. considered by the folks to be a pretty heavy favorite here which is showed her to be up by five or six points. we'll see that tightening to pay attention the election more get more familiar with eric hovde he , he has extraordinary wealth and has been using that wealth consistently in the campaign so people started to form more of an opinion of him. i think it will be interesting. in a similar way that former president trump has been struggling to find an attack line that registers against vp harris i think eric hovde he is struggling to find an attack line that sticks against kate baldwin.

i think we will see the race go a little bit more negative than it's been over the past few weeks and i think it comes down to who does a better job of defining the other candidate but i think many people consider baldwin to be a favorite at this point. >> that definition does by the television ads folks are seeing there. the folks at home looking at an ad from terry baldwin and eric hovde. [video clip] >> getting kids out the door. eric hovde he things all women care about is hollywood. >> it's deplorable sadly with females they spend too much time focused on what's going on in hollywood. >> we know you supported overturning roe v. wade and we know you vote for national abortion ban. >> what is wrong with this guy? >> i approve this message. >> i america of the end i approve this message. >> we pay more for every thing because of tammy baldwin. >> my car payment doubles this

year. >> she voted for $2 trillion in spending that caused this mess. tammy baldwin voted to give illegal immigrants handouts. tammy baldwin has done nothing for us and she's been in d.c. for 25 years. >> we can't afford tammy baldwin's failed policies. >> it's time for a change. >> on one side it's abortion on the other. these themes are common these days. >> they are common, you are correct about that. the baldwin campaign is really only gotten into hitting eric hovde d on abortion which when you look at the polling is one of the top issues in wisconsin. since the dobbs decision, there was about a year long periods were abortion was outlawed in wisconsin and the court ruling has since made the procedure available again for about the last 12 but deciding

whether it's protected by the wisconsin constitution is very much ongoing so it's top of mind for voters here. the other big issue is the economy. people have the feeling, the pain of the last few years and that's been caused by inflation. we've seen some of the things people like to talk about going up. the eric of the folks want to tie baldwin to biden and ever since biden has dropped out i feel like some of the windows lost some of that sale of the attack line. i'm wondering if we will see a shift in the last 60 days or so here is they look for some to really stick. >> tell us what your work with with constant -- with wisconsin watch. guest: we are a nonpartisan not-for-profit newsroom based here in madison that we get coverage throughout the state. primarily longform investigative and enterprise journalism and

our work really focuses on holding public leaders accountable whether that's a circuit court court judge or county official all the way to the governor's office and folks working in the state legislature. >> wisconsin watch.org is the website. mr. kelly thanks for your time this morning. guest: guest: thanks for having me. >> this is scott in california. democrats line thank you for waiting. caller: thank you for taking my call. the suit you're wearing i want to call it paisley but with the shirt and maroon tie, to somebody do your colors before you go on set, it is awesome. i would buy that in the second. go ahead. i would biden the second but i would not pull it off as well as you have. my top issue is earlier i

watched your entire show and it's absolutely great, thank you. and flavoring. needless to say the immigration issue is top of mind with the native american who called into the show it brought to mind a story that my sister had a best friend in college in colorado and she was from the big sky country. and my adopted brother is also native american 50% and then i was a surprise later on. but needless to say, her best friend from college who lives in the midwest and the big sky country once had a road rage incident that i wanted to share

where we are hypocritical, selfish about immigration. she was out driving around, this white businessman cut her off, she cut him off. they came to the red light, she rolls the window down he rolled his window down and says go back to your own country. you know what she said. i'm native american. the hypocrisy of immigration. it's a shame that we've gone so far off track with it. thank you for your time this morning. host: i'm not the only one working today the network, a lot of people keeping the network on this labor day so you don't get to see them they are important to what we do. margie in pennsylvania, republican line high. caller: nice to see you.

my top issue for this campaign is our appearance on the world stage. i feel that biden was weak and it was noticed after the international trip he took. i feel that harris has always played both ends against the middle just to advance her career. of course, republican, i believe in small government. trump is rude and crude and he has no tact and finesse. but, china who is actually our main problem in the middle east they don't know what he will do next. so i feel that we need someone in the presidency who at least projects a feeling of strength. that said i would vote for him anyway. but that is my main issue.

meadville is right between pittsburgh and erie. almost equidistant. host: vice president harris and president biden will be in pittsburgh today. caller: i'll see them on television today at some point in time. host: you can watch on that and -- this network margie. we will show it to you live on our main channel without interruption if you are go ahead and finish her thought. caller: that's fine, i did finish my thought. i'm not a terrific fan but i will be voting for donald trump. host: one of those battleground states people will be watching for over the next 60 plus days. tina from pennsylvania, independent line. >> good morning pedro, i hope you are well.

i am in a battleground state and it is getting hairy. if you just bear with me. direct democracy we keep hearing. in my opinion the threat we are facing is we have a candidate on the others on the democratic side that did not receive one vote. it was not put in the hands of the people, it was put in the hands of all of the hedge funds and the powers that be. what should have happened is schumer, pelosi and kamala harris should have gotten together and done it the correct way. but that's here nor there. another thing i want to say is i did about -- vote for biden in 2020. you will see kamala harris and tim walz in pittsburgh, you will see them in harrisburg, in philadelphia. you won't see them anywhere in between. but you will see donald trump, you've seen him in butler, using them in johnstown.

and -- that's not the way to win this state. if you go to the city. and i've done a lot of phone calls on both sides to see who were you going to vote for, what's your reason. the reason here is the cost of everything. everything. seniors are getting misplaced. we are seeing the bussing in and we are seeing the freebies that are going to say they are illegals because they broke federal law to get here. that needs to stop. i don't care what side of the aisle you are on, i don't care if you're white, black, hispanic, you need to be here legally. they don't need to be voting, they don't have any constitutional rights and it's just -- people need to come together as american because if we don't, we will end up in a war on our soil and it's just -- pedro, it is scary.

people need to wake up. trump didn't put us in any wars pretty could stop this. host: she mentioned it's a battleground state that we've been paying attention to. georgia is one we've talked about. democrats line, this is jack. caller: how's it going. i just want to say something about the economy, of the silly blame game that keeps going on about the economy. the inflation we had was short-lived as a result of closing the economy because of the pandemic during the trump administration. you close the economy and nobody is working, a bunch of people don't have a flow of income coming into their household and the government had to send money to those people so they could buy food. inflation is not -- it's not the fault of anyone except the pandemic. it was short-lived. trump handled the first election season is administration as --

like a clown and then joe biden and kamala harris got us out of the mess like eisenhower winning world war ii. the economy was going gangbusters yet we -- now we've had some inflation, the result of the pandemic. it's not the blame of biden or anybody. people throwing this around, the economy is going great. the economy was going great when biden handed off the economy to trump it was going great. we had a pandemic so stop trying to blame, biden and harris took us out of the disaster fantastically and now we have a nice strong stable economy. when clinton handed off the economy to george w. bush, bush had a nice economy. of course we had 9/11. then bush handed off a disaster and the financial crisis obama had to take over bush's disaster and then obama handed off a gangbusters economy to trump and then trump, not his fault, he

had the pandemic but he handled it like a clown. and then biden had to take over a disaster from trump and now the democrats got us out of this again. you put trump back in charge you are going to have another clown in charge of the system again and we will need another democrat to take over the mass. host: got your point. we've got about 15 minutes left in the program. if you are calling in to tell us about that top issue, hold on for just a few minutes. as we take a look at the battleground states this morning. this is the state of nevada. nevada independent, their washington correspondent here to talk about the condition of the state as a battleground. >> thank you for having me. host: as far as the battleground goes, why nevada this time around? guest: i think people sometimes

forget nevada is a swing state because democrats have won the presidential election every time since 2008 but the margins have been getting small. hillary clinton winning by 2.5 points. it's a state the trump campaign feels like they can get over the hump this time in 2024. it's the smallest of the swing states, but both parties believe they have a path to victory there and the margin will be pretty tight. host: one of the things they are talking about is the taxation on tips, a lot of service community there. took up at the relation and how that's being received by the community. guest: nevada has the highest concentration of tipped workers in the country. its bartenders, waiters, car dealers. and so one thing about the vegas area is its highly unionized, they are huge force in

democratic politics and represent kitchen workers, workers in the hospitality industry and they've come out in support of this proposal to end taxation on tips. at the same time they said they don't trust trump to implement it and support vice president harris who is in favor of the proposal. the question will be down ballot -- not just down ballot but among rank-and-file union members. the member education they will do, but rank-and-file union members, is that a swing issue for them. i think those are open questions but something the trump campaign feels and they just did an event with members of the culinary union, it's an issue they feel is going to help them in november. host: as far as where his candidates are traveling in the state, how would you characterize that and where those up for grabs votes. >> a lot of the event seal crn las vegas because that's where most people in nevada live but

washoe county up north is on the border with oregon. that's going -- that's additional bellwether county. it voted for biden in 2020. both campaigns really feel like if they can win that it's a great sign. you don't have to win it. the republican governor did not win that county but still won the state. it makes your path easier and a good indicator of what might happen to you on election night. host: when it comes to the ground game. how would you characterize the ground game of either campaign, who has the best campaign? guest: if you know anything about nevada democrats, harry reid built the democratic nevada machine. it's a huge coordinated campaign from the presidential down to the state legislature. the culinary union is a big part of that. in 2022 they knocked on a million doors and she won her race by less than a point. you can understand how critical each element of this machine is.

they are 14 campaign offices, they a lot of targeted outreach to latino voters, asian-american voters, they are a really well organized effective political machine. the trump campaign when biden was at the top of the ticket i think on some level took nevada for granted. now the polling has stabilized, i think they are on the back foot a bit so they have campaign office open and her started to staff up. they described that as sort of a qualitative versus quantitative approach they've talked about wanting to knock on the right doors so trying to identify registered republicans who don't vote always or voted republican in the past two maybe didn't vote in the midterm or even in 2020 so they are targeting voters not unique to nevada. that sort of the difference in approach right now on the ground in nevada. host: maybe he has an attraction

of voters amongst the latino community or minority community. does that bear itself out anyway in nevada? guest: with his endorsed candidates in the midterm it didn't quite bear fruit. the population in nevada is pretty heavy mexican-american and where we senior republicans make gains as cuban-americans in venezuela americans doesn't really exist as large of community in nevada. what republicans tell me is a great path is to win 40% of the hispanic vote there. no candidate has been able to do that as a republican since bread we will see what trump has been able to do. host: can we talk about the nevada senate race between jacky rosen and her challenger sam brown. tell us about this for those who are maybe not qualifying guest: -- watching it as closely grade this -- qualifying -- watching us closely. guest: there are all the swing

states were democrats are running. republicans have thought of nevada as their best pickup opportunity especially with the presidential polling until recently had been good for them so they are passionate about their candidate sam brown. he is a veteran, a small business owner, his wife nursed him back to health after he suffered injury in afghanistan. nevada is a really transient states of the population elected jacky rosen, about 30% of that will be different people. nevada politicians have to introduce themselves to candidates. jacky rosen has a huge financial advantage, she's using that to get on the airwaves earlier and more frequently than sam brown. she deafly wants the race to be about abortion, about his past abortion stances. he wants the race to be more about the economy and talk about inflation, grocery prices. rozen has margins that seem

pretty unreasonable next act poles to tighten as we get closer to the election but i think people are quite clear what rozen seems to be winning at the moment. >> will show the ads from both campaigns and then come back to you. [video clip] >> it's an unthinkable trauma when a woman is raped and becomes pregnant. as sexual assault counselor i have seen it too many times. but sam brown has spent the last decade pushing to ban abortion without exception for rape or incest. even support the texas ban, one of the harshest in the country. for sam brown to tell these women they do not have a choice, it is disgraceful. >> i'm jacky rosen did i approve this message. >> gas prices are up, housing and grocery prices are through the roof and nevada has the second-highest unemployment in the nation. career politicians do not seem

to care. >> i'm not a politician. neither are you. after the military i worked in a warehouse and started a small business. i will reverse jacky rosen's policy and breakdown prices. i'm sam brown and i approve this message. host: what kind of impact do you think is that having on central voters. guest: both are compelling messages pray nevada's estate where there -- it's a really libertarian lean when you think about nevada. easy marriage, easy divorce, vegas. it's pretty firmly pro-abortion rights state. the ballot measures got about two thirds support and there will be a ballot measure this sierra nevada to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitutions of democrats are hoping independent voters that

that will be compelling to left-leaning independence. by the same token nevada people say when the economy sneezes nevada catches a cold because it such a tourism-based economy. so it had the highest unemployment during covid. obviously that's gone down a lot. but they had the highest unemployment and gas prices have been really high there. things are grocery prices are still high. so republicans like sam brown are hoping the economic message for people feeling the pain in nevada, a lot of low income are middle-class workers every working-class population that that will be a compelling case to those right-leaning or true independents. host: washington correspondent here talking about the battleground state of nevada. thank you for your time. a few more of your calls let's

hear from stephen massachusetts, republican line. thank you for joining us, go ahead. caller: happy labor day from webster massachusetts. named after the greatest orator in congress, daniel webster. my two concerns, my main concerns i'm looking at this from a holistic perspective. i'm concerned about the sovereignty of our nation and i am also concerned about what socialism appears to be spreading in this country. winston churchill once said socialism is the greed of envy and the spreading of misery and i think we saw the spread of misery the last four years with inflation. regarding -- ok, i've got a live ways to go with this. i just would like to make a request from you guys because we have a lot of talk about unity.

we've always had differences of opinion in this country and i refer to daniel webster. people ought to read his speech to robert of south carolina when the country past tariffs on a national level and south carolina declared state's and wanted nullification. speaking of history, this is my last request of you please, we are coming up on the 200th anniversary of the election of 1824. this is the last election to have been decided in the house of representatives. jackson won the electoral vote and popular vote yet he was more or less stabbed in the back by henry clay and the election went to john quincy adams of new hampshire at the time. host: we will have to leave it

there. steve in new jersey, independent line. caller: good morning, how are you. i'm very upset no one has mentioned this issue and it just shows you how desperate it is is directed hatred in this country. i can tell you i have never been more afraid to be a jew now. it is an epidemic. our synagogues have armed guards. i constantly see anti-semitic graffiti on the streets of new york city. we have had an insurgence of people coming into this country who are anti-american anti-jew. they've taken over our universities. jewish kids are afraid to go to school and no one is talking about it. no one is talking about it. it is frightening what's going on. it's going on in many other

western countries. france, england and it is a huge issue and a issue being ignored. that's kind of out was during the holocaust. everyone knew it was happening but it was ignored. once again it's happening and people are paying attention. host: democrats line. caller: the lying desta borders alive. the truth is the border has always been people coming across have always done a great job. right now the infrastructure, those of the people doing the festivals and building the houses, of railroad, the tracks and also the bridges, the homes, texas, one of the best economies.

if your food is too high i'm am so sorry for you. the other one is gas. in 2004, then president bush tapped every one of the oil wells and gas wells. the other one, the affordable care. 23, 24, texas signed a 3 million -- signed up 3 million people for affordable care, a.k.a. obamacare. host: anna in texas finalizing your calls with stops along the way to talk of two battleground state reporters. thank you for giving us your time. another addition of washington journal comes your way at 7:00 tomorrow morning. we will see you then. ♪ which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [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. 2024]

♪