♪ host: good morning, it is september 24. there are 41 days until election day. on "thwaington journal" we

want to know how you plan to vote with early voting underway in several states. you can join the conversation by calling in. democrats at (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you don't plan to vote, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8003. all of these can text at that same line, (202) 748-8003. include your first name, city/state. or you can post on facebook.com/c-span or on x with the handle @cspanwj. your thoughts in a minute. look at this map at the -- map put together. the blue states are those with the option to vote early by person or i mail available to all voters. orange are options to vote early

in person available. an eligible reason required to vote by mail. the red states, mississippi, alabama, new hampshire, no early in-vote person is available. you have to have an eligible reason to vote by mail. that is the lay of the land for early voting in this country. how do you plan to vote in november? when early voting started in this country, we invited the university of florida's michael mcdonald who studies early election trends to give his assessment of what we might see this election cycle. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> it is hard to know with certainty. we have been on an upward trajectory over two decades as more states have made early voting options available. voters take advantage.

voters like the convenience of voting early, if that is the way they would like to vote. we have seen this upward trend. then we had the pandemic. over half the votes were cast by some early voting means, in mail or early person. we went off the charts. nearly a doubling of our early voting that we've been seeing, like by mail. then it reduced again back to 2022 levels, but we are still in the upper trajectory. i think we will see somewhere around 45% to 50% of the votes this time around cast early if we stay on the upper trajectory, but it's difficult to know until we see people voting. host: as far as the breakdown between democrats and republicans voting early, what do you see in those trends?

guest: generally, overall, democrats prefer voting early. if we look down to the methods of voting, there have been interesting patterns. some have been upended by the pandemic. prior to the pandemic republicans voted by mail and democrats voted in person early. when democrats wanted to protect themselves during the pandemic, they switched to mail balloting. republicans, heeding trump's rhetoric, decided to vote in person. we saw patterns upended in the 2020 election that had been there for a couple of decades prior. after the election in 2022, we saw some reversion back to before 2020, but not all the way. it looks like we have this dynamic where democrats tend to prefer mail.

republicans, we will have to see, but i think they will prefer in-person early. we won't know until we get into this early voting period and look at the statistics. host: the university of florida's michael mcdonald on early voting trends. how do you plan to vote this election cycle? have you already voted by mail-in? if so, dial in. if not, or if you don't plan to vote at all, we want to hear from you. you heard from michael mcdonald how this breaks down by party. you research found six in 10 americans favor early voting or absentee voting without an excuse. when you break this down by party, 82% of democrats and democratic-leaning independents essay early or absentee voting should be available to any voter without the need for an excuse. 62% of republicans and republican leaners say this

should only be available to those who have a documented reason for not voting in person on election day. in idaho falls, idaho, how do you plan to vote? caller: by mail. i already sent in my application. host: do you have to have an eligible reason? caller: you know, on the application they ask you what it is. host: when did you state? caller: low vision. not used to voting with computers and stuff like that. it takes me a long time. so, i decided to just do it at home.

everybody, especially those who work and probably don't have time to go sit in lines should have that option to mail in votes. that way -- so, yeah. host: it sounds like you have not done this before? you have shown up in the past? caller: in the past, yeah. i have a problem with my eyes. i am blind in one eye, which i don't see out of, but that i -- that eye is -- i can't drive, let's put it that way. host: do you know who you are going to vote for? caller: kamala harris. we need a change. we need someone who is just going to not stir up trouble. yeah, i will leave it at that.

host: going to vote by mail. had to apply for that option. john in college park, maryland. you don't plan to vote. why not? caller: i support a black agenda, and i can't get anyone in either party or leading the congressional lack caucus to address the issues which includes reparations, an anti-black hate crimes bill, and qualified immunity for police. no one supports that. there's no point in me voting because i don't have any representation. if you look at the congressional black caucus, they want to include everyone in black affairs. when you look at the asians or the latinos, they specifically want to support their group. there is nothing for me to vote for. when it comes to a lot of foreign policy stuff, the

american government doesn't listen to what the people want. all of this funding to israel, a lot of people don't want that. yet, the government wants it, which are basically white men and they support that. host: speaking a foreign affairs, in new york world leaders are gathering, including president biden, for the u.n. general assembly, the annual gathering in new york city at the united nations. president biden will give his farewell address today. his last remarks before the united nations general assembly in this term. we will have coverage of that. go to c-span.org. you can watch on our free video mobile app, c-span now, as well. israel-hamas war is one of the key agendas, as well as the war between russia and ukraine. mr. zelenskyy, the ukrainian

president, will be in new york advocating for more help from western allies. punch bowl scooped that the ukrainian leader will be in washington on thursday to meet with congressional leaders. kendra in ashland, virginia, an independent. caller: good morning. i received my mail-in ballot on friday. the caller that was just on, i think john from maryland, you may want to check out trump's website. on his website it is called the platinum plan. that outlines what he would like to do in black communities. i think it has been on his website for a couple of years now. host: you are going to mail-in your vote? caller: yes. i already mailed it in yesterday.

everybody keeps talking about project 2025, that i am more afraid of agenda 30 -- agenda 2030 is what i'm really afraid of. project 2025 is just a thought. agenda 2030 is what is going on right now and it is kind of scary. host: who did you vote for? caller: i did mail in my vote. i voted republican down the entire ticket. like i said, i am afraid of agenda 2030. thank you, greta. host: got it. pennsylvania, republican. good morning. how do you plan to vote? caller: good morning. republican, trump. host: will you vote on election day or before? caller: i'm hoping on election day. host: why do you say "i'm hoping"? caller: i am in a home and i

can't go anywhere. i don't get no help. i am locked in here. host: why do you plan to vote for the former president? caller: i'm hoping to vote for mr. trump. host: right, how come? what are the issues important to you? caller: our future. may very well be. host: alabama, democratic caller, lester. caller: good morning, greta. how are you? host: doing well. caller: listening to the people calling in saying they are going to vote for trump. i hope he feeds them cats and dogs, because that is what they need to eat. i will vote democrat all the way because i love making history. it is time for a woman to be president. host: caller, you are in alabama. what is the process like in alabama? caller: alabama is a red state.

i can tell you, there are more poor people in alabama voting for trump. he will be in alabama on saturday. host: when you go to vote in alabama, what is the process like? caller: well, they try to do anything they possibly can to keep you from voting, but as long as you have your proper id you can vote. host: simone in spring valley, california, an independent. what is your plan for voting, caller? caller: thank you for taking my call. i intend to vote for kamala harris simply because i like her plan. i used to be a republican, i have always voted republican, but this year i am voting for kamala harris. we need a change. we need a serious change. host: how will you vote in california? what is the process like in that state? caller: i will vote by mail.

they haven't sent out the mail-in ballot yet, but i'm thinking in the next weeks. i am voting by mail. i have done it every year. host: why do you trust voting by mail? caller: it is very convenient. you just put your ballot into the mailbox and that it. you don't even have to put a stamp on it. it is totally, totally convenient. host: do you track your vote? are you able to do that in california? caller: yes. i track my vote. you have a number that you can enter on their website to check it out. i will keep doing it. host: can you see that it has been tabulated? caller: i'm not sure of that. i vote my conscience and that's it.

host: simone in california plans to vote for kamala harris by mail in early voting. at a recent hearing on capitol hill featuring the secretaries of state, the michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson spoke about how early votes are tabulated in her state. here's a portion from earlier this month. [video clip] >> explain why counting ballots could extend beyond election? there are legitimate reasons why -- >> i apologize. i misunderstood. we count only valid votes in our state. there are three options. voting from home and returning their ballots to the mail, voting early, voting in person on election day. however someone chooses to vote we have a responsibility to count that vote and it takes time to do so. we will never sacrifice accuracy and security in tabulating our votes over efficiency. although, we understand the

urgency of the moment and the facts that the eyes of the nation will often be on our state to deliver results. our priority will always be ensuring their accuracy. i am proud that even the 2020 election when some states took several days, we had the unofficial results for our state prepared and public within 24 hours of the closing. in that time period we worked transparently to ensure that people understood we were securely and accurately counting every vote and trying to do so, working with our clerks to do so, as host: efficiently as possible. host:the michigan secretary of state talking about how they will be tabulating votes of campaign -- kicked tabulating votes for campaign 24. what is the process like in your state? robert, share what it is like in indiana. how do you get to vote? caller: well, myself, i'm going to vote in person. i won't load until election day.

look how many turns this election has tak we still have 42 days to go. things can happen. this is a different election for me. i am lifetime republican, but i don't see -- i can't vote for donald trump. somebody that is said in sworn testimony that he can do whatever he wants to my wife, my daughter, my granddaughters, just as he has assaulted women he has assaulted the constitution. he assaulted the republic. i put my hand over my heart and pledge to the republic, not the republicans. host: who will you vote for? caller: i will probably vote -- i will vote all republican except for the presidential spot. that will probably be kamala,

because i cannot vote for donald trump. host: let me ask you this. did you vote for the former president in 2016 or 2020? caller: i did in 2020 because i -- i would have to call it ignorance. i was so disgusted in 2016 i got out of the news. there has been a lot happened since 2020. he is a convicted felon now. he is due to catered sexual assaults. i don't know how a man can vote for him. if he wants to do that to your lady, how can you vote for a guy who wants -- who says he can do anything he wants to to the ladies in your life? host: in california, don't plan to vote. tell us why. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am a lifelong independent.

i really want to mirror what the gentleman was just saying on th at call. after a while i could not just vote democrat again. i am independent. i vote my conscience. this fiasco is not representing the american people. neither one of these candidates are really going into anything that is going to help the american people. i am not going to vote because i don't want to be part of the hypocrisy. no, i cannot vote. for a second i was going to vote all republican because of policies going on now, having away all of this free money on my tax dollars is not really helping me. so, everybody wants to be

focused on everything else except the matter at hand. just about these early votes, it is going to be a hot mess. they are doing everything and the focus is so skewed. i'm not sure how anybody is even thinking about voting, but no one is saying with the real -- even speaking to those issues at all. host: you said you were going to vote for republicans. now you are not. why? caller: even the thought of voting for all republican, even though that is against my entire dna. criminals on both sides. no one is doing anything on either side. no one is speaking to anything that has to do with what they are going to do. everyone is talking about stuff that ain't got nothing to do with anything. then i'm going to vote all democrat because i am this

color, this religion, it doesn't make any sense. i don't want to be part of it. host: got it. i will leave it t. a text message. my wife and i will not be only because we are residents o the u.s. virgin islands. even though it is a territory the u.s. and we are americans born in the u.s., we are in eligible to vote in nation elections. we are in maine working phone banks and knocking on doors for the democratic ticket. we are true patriots supporting kamala harris and down ballot democrats. cliff, an independent in the u.s. virgin islands. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. include your first name, city, and state. punch bowl news, their newsletter this morning. speaker johnson and house gop leaders through in the final towel monday night and move forward with a government funding plan that will need lots of democratic help to pass. this sets up a house for vote as

soon asked today on a continuing resolution to keep federal agencies open through december 20. then it will be up to the senate to finish work before next week's shutdown deadline. the republicans have decided to bring this three-month continuing resolution to the floor by a suspension rule, which will require two thirds majority. with more republican defections, it means republicans in the house need democrats to get this over the finish line. tune into our gavel-to-gavel coverage on the house floor on c-span beginning their legislative business at 10:00 a.m. eastern. you can watch on c-span.org or over free you mobile app c-span now. more on our coverage on capitol hill, the ceo of novo nordisk testifies on the pricing of thr diabetes and weight loss

drugs, which can cost up to 10 or 15 timemore in the u.s. than any other country. you can watch live coverage of the senate hearing on c-span, c-span.com, or -- and then the crowdstrike senior vice president for operations testifying on the global impact of a faulty software update that left a .5 million microsoft windows devices offline. watch that house hearing live on c-span3, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. reno, nevada, democratic caller, sue what is it like to vote in nevada? what do you have to do? caller: all i have to do is mail in my ballot and i will be voting, my husband and i both will be turning our ballots in. we haven't gotten them so far.

they haven't sent them out yet. when they do -- we are from washington where it has always been everyone does that way. another thing that i really wanted to call about -- host: before you get to that. when you mail it in, do you put it in the post office, do you put it in a certain voting box? caller: you can put it in a voting box if you want, but we put ours in a mailbox down the street. the big mailbox. host: can you track it? caller: yes, yes, you can track your vote. host: your other thought, sue? caller: this is something that i've been trying to get to you about ever since jill stein was on. what i wanted to say was, years ago i quit working and was watching tv. i saw her on cnn, jill stein

and a a guy by the name of mike flynn. they were in russia with vladimir putin. i always thought she was the green, i thought she was democratic, because of the green party. but here, there she was, they were in russia with putin. her and a fellow by the name of mike flynn. i just wanted -- host: got it. we had jill stein on the program, the green party nominee, along with the libertarian nominee in this election cycle. if you are interested you can find those interviews at c-span.org. michael in tennessee, independent. how do you plan to vote in the state of tennessee? caller: i plan to vote early in mid-october. i believe the 17th or 18th we get early voting.

i plan to put my support behind vice president harris. i would like to say to the guy in indiana, i would really like to buy him a beer. that is a true patriot. we can't afford four years of this disaster of a man who has been convicted of 34 felonies, in civil court of sexual assault. this man is a disgrace not only to this country, he is a disgrace to the human race itself. i hope tennessee is probably going to go for trump, but what i'm interested in watching and tennessee as we put in phil roe edison in 2023, democrat who did a great job. i'm wondering. all of the numbers that i see, tennessee is slightly going purple. the numbers for republicans are going down and democrats are going up and independents are going up. i'm interested to see how tennessee goes. i think the trouble probably probably win by 70,000 or 80,000 votes statewide.

that is what i have to say. all americans, come on. kamala harris is a great woman with a great resume. prosecutor, district attorney, attorney general, united states senate, vice president. that is a resume i want to hire. host: when you do early voting, do you have to do it in person or mail it in? caller: have to do it in person. host: what do you have to show? caller: just my drivers license. what's that? host: do you do it by computer? is it easy, a fast process? caller: with early voting we have to go to our board of elections office. if i were to vote on voting day, i would go to our county fair -- what you call it? it is where our county fair is held. it is the munitions depot where i am registered to vote if i were to vote on election day.

early voting i have to go to the word of elections, show my drivers license, vote, and i'm done. host: michael in tennessee. jay in new york, don't plan to vote. why is that? caller: i'm hoping you people can help me decide. i heard the gentleman from tennessee, very angry. a very angry man. out of curiosity, just throwing mailbox ballots in the mailbox, it seems to be very unprofessional. i was wondering, maybe you can help me on this. the rallies harris has and the young generation that is behind her -- and i have a daughter who is 25 going into the corporate world and all that stuff. i am wondering, who is going to pay for everyone coming here? are they aware that they will be responsible while they are screaming and hollering in the background? i don't like trump's ways, but

he put more money in the pockets. i don't see harris addressing that. thank you. host: jay in new york, not planning to vote. front page of the washington post, trump loses one potential victory aid. a key republican state lawmaker in nebraska said on monday that he doesn't support changing how the state awards its electoral voters before the november election. foiling a last ditch push from the former president and his allies that could have reshaped the outcome of the presidential race. nebraska allocates its electoral votes by congressional district, and then some for whoever won the state. it is not winner take all like all of the other states in this country. maine and nebraska have a different allotment of their

electoral votes. it is proportioned by congressional district rather than winner take all. another headline to share with you, the new york times this morning, on polls. trump ahead in the swing states of arizona, georgia, and north carolina according to a new york times poll. that is the latest poll numbers from the new york times on those swing states. also in the paper they say this. harris' consensus win in the debate has barely moved the polling needle. the state of the presidential race in 2024 as we talk with you about how you plan to vote. what is the process like in your state? do you have early voting, mail-in, do you have to go in person on election day?

marshall in florida, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. hello? host: go ahead, we are listening to you. caller: i'm going to vote for donald trump. the reason is, and i am going to vote in person, i don't see the open borders. i don't want to have to pay for all the illegal immigrants for the health insurance and everything else that she wants to pay for. we are on a fixed income. i like to be able to -- i'm not voting for the personality. i'm voting for what they are going to do for this country. as i see kamala harris, what has she accomplished? she hasn't accomplished nothing. host: when you go to vote, will it be on election day or will you do -- will you vote early? caller: i don't believe in

voting early because i think there is too much going on for -- as far as people not being honest. you put something in the mail you don't know if you are going to get it in there or not. i like going personally so i can see that i know i voted. the people that think they're going to get away or not have a problem with mail-in voting, i have news. it's going to happen, it always does. it doesn't matter what state you are in. host: in a recent interview the pennsylvania republican secretary of the commonwealth spoke about the problems with mail-in voting and his estate and what has changed. [video clip] >> i mean, it passed in 2019 from a republican house and republican senate signed by a democratic governor. we had absentee ballot voting before, which occurred on a

percentage of our voters casting their votes that way, but it was pretty new. with that newness voters had a lot of questions. it is important to answer their questions when they have them. one thing that is a disadvantage in pennsylvania that you reference is, not only is voting by mail new, but unlike most other states, red and blue, our counties cannot process mail-in ballots before 7:00 a.m. election morning. plenty of other states, republican states like florida and others, allow this process to begin in advance. that means in those states you know the mail vote by midnight on election night except for the ones that came in that day or evening. in pennsylvania the process cannot begin until 7:00 a.m. election morning. it is acutely frustrating to have a technical problem with a technical solution that is

nonpartisan, nonpolitical, doesn't benefit any candidate or party, and have pennsylvania go through this in 2020 and that issue having not been addressed in the last four years i our legislature. >> it could happen again? >> yeah. one thing that did change for the better is mail-in ballot voting was new and our county now has some experience.they can process ballots more expeditiously while maintaining the integrity of the process. there have been lessons learned along the way, so hopefully we will get the votes earlier than in 2020, but it comes down to how close elections are. host: the pennsylvania secretary of the commonwealth talking about early voting in that state. we want to know, will you vote early? if so, how? or, will you wait until election day? indianapolis, democratic caller. caller: good morning. host: tell us how you plan to

vote. caller: i plan to vote democrat and in person. host: on election day? caller: yes, ma'am. host: why will you wait until then? caller: because it is down the street from me and we don't have long lines to stand in all day, so i will just vote that way. i understand people in other states that decided to vote by mail so they don't have to stand in line for eight hours, all day, and whatnot, and cannot get to work and can't go to school. host: you agree with early voting and the options of early voting by mail to avoid lines? caller: most definitely. i think dejoy, the postmaster, is awful the way that he delayed mail-in ballots and whatnot and what they've done with the sorting machines in 2020.

i think it was awful. host: he testifies on capitol hill this thursday before lawmakers about this election cycle. holly in carolina beh,orth carolina says, i haven't received my absentee ballot because rfk junior sued to get his name removed from the north carolina ballot andriing had to start over. as a north carolina taxpayer i resent having to pay for self-serving indecisiveness. georgia, a swing state, you don't plan to vote. why, david? caller: long time no hear. let me suggest some things for upcoming shows that i want to have on your show before i say anything. host: can you make it quick? we want to stick to the topic. caller: i understand. can you do a show on the auditors going around the country? host: let's go on to why you don't plan to vote?

caller: that is a little shortsighted. i have some other beef to talk about. i will say this. i don't plan to vote. i never voted at they in my life. i don't believe what what the government has to offer. i don't believe in accepting the lesson of two evils. a lot of people on the show is voting for their conscience, which is white supremacy. i'm just waiting on god to come back. it's very close, so i just have to wait on that. host: your other suggestions for us? make it quick. caller: i appreciate that. amy chen has a great perspective on the african-asian experience. john ritter, because what is going on in the middle east. he has the truth about that. like i said earlier, they are doing a great thing exposing what is going on with the people

and their control over the government. just because they have jobs no one has rights but them. i appreciate it, greta. host: i will move on. selma, ohio, democratic caller. caller: hi, i will be voting in person for kamala harris. i live in ohio. the hate that trump and jd vance are spilling in springfield, ohio about the hate is terrible. host: that is why you are voting against them? caller: i am voting democrat because anyone who would vote for tom is out of their mind. the hatred that they are spreading in springfield, ohio is terrible. i live near cordage, ohio where a sheriff was telling people to go around and take pictures of people. i have very many harris signs in

my yard. they can take the picture and tell people they are going to send emigrants to my house. who cares. that sheriff needs to be fired. host: bradley on facebook says, in person on election day, as our founding fathers envisioned. oh yeah, i will be voting for the guy who wants to make america great again. alabama, independent, good morning to you. how will you vote in this election? caller: i will be voting in person. like many said, i think it is voting for the lesser of two evils. why in this country, it is a great country, how come this is our options. so many educated folks in this country, so much potential, so

many people that can do better for this country, why this is our options? yes, i will be voting, but i would wish that i had a better choice. that's all i have to say. host: wilson, north carolina, gary, republican. what is it like in north carolina? we had a text from a viewer in north carolina saying that the ballots have not been sent out because rfk sued to get his name off. caller:. yes, that is correct however, the ballots are going to be mailed fairly soon. i will plan to vote in person, however, i may decide not to vote in the presidential election and simply vote for the local and state office races.

host: why not the presidential race? caller: as a republican, i cannot support donald trump. i feel that he has basically hijacked the republican party, and he chose the republican party because he saw it as his path to the presidency. he would just as soon have gone democratic a few years ago. the -- i cannot vote democratic in this election, because i do not agree with the democratic policies and i would rather not vote by saying on voting against someone or another.

i will simply cast my vote in the state and local races. host: gary calling from the battleground state of north carolina. another battleground state is the state of arizona. back to that washington post event, in an interview with the arizona democratic secretary of state they spoke about changes that they instituted, heated, -- he did, changes he instituted to help with the process of voting in arizona. [video clip] >> maricopa county, arizona used to be precinct-based peer you had to go to your local precinct or your ballot would not count. you could vote provisionally but ultimately the ballot would not count. i shifted that. now we have vote centers, which is not an original idea. we had several counties, deep red counties, that had vote centers where anyone can vote at

any location. arizona has 27 days of early voting. we are well into 80% of our turnout being ballot by mail voting. the utility and necessity for every single precinct to have it's own functional polling place is of a past time. that doesn't necessarily exist anymore. in maricopa county, the second-largest voting jurisdiction in the united states of america, we used the need 700 or a hundred or over 1000 polling places, we are down to 250, maybe 300. any voter can vote at any one of these locations. they are sometimes open in the evenings and weekends for 27 days before election day. host: the arizona secretary of state talking about the changes made in that state. we are asking you, how do you plan to vote in november? will it be in person on election day, horrible you vote early,

and do you have to do that in person or mailing your vote? also want to know your thoughts on early voting, if you approve or disapprove, and who you plan to vote for in november. we are 41 days from election day. more calls coming up. other headlines for you, the front page of the washington times, manifesto includes bounty on trump. prosecutors reveal a stack of evidence for assassination plot on the golf course in florida. then, from the wall street journal this morning, also that story. gunmen stalking trump left a note. "dear world, this was an assassination attempt on donald trump, but i am so sorry i failed you." that is part of the letter left by the gunmen stalking the former president on the golf course in florida. paul in florida, democratic caller.

how do you plan to vote? caller: well, i did request to vote by mail, but when i get the ballot i'm voting democrat. i will be delivering it in person to the office, just because i do not confide much in the postal service, especially with everything that has been going on. where i live there is a lot of chaos with the mail. it is prolonged, it doesn't arrive on time, i don't know if it will be picked up and delivered on time, but i know that i can get it to the office on time. i will be voting democrat. host: why democrat? caller: well, to be honest, we need -- i believe that we are at a drastic turning point, and

donald trump is not the one that's going to get us through this turmoil. i believe it is time for a change. i am also from the virgin islands. there was another caller from the islands earlier. i have heard people say that kamala harris is not black. she is a person of color and mixed race. she has been working in the fields for the city, state, government, which ever you want to look at it. the court system. donald trump is a businessman. he had some great ideas. who is going to think of paying for error rates -- air rights if

you are blocking the view? that was an intelligent move, but that doesn't mean he is right to run the country. host: finish your thought, real quick. caller: if i cannot trust this man to be around my wife, my mother, my daughters, how can i trust him to run the country? host: cnn reporting, campaign officials from the harris campaign are weighing a potential visit to the vice president to the u.s.-mexico border in arizona. it says on friday, as the campaign tries to close the gap with former president trump on the issue of immigration. watch for that on the campaign trail this week. douglas in new hampshire, independent.what is it like to vote in new hampshire, douglas? caller: it is pretty easy, for the most part. i will be voting for donald trump. if you wanted to destroy this country you would leave the

borders open for four years, have never ending wars, funding never ending wars all over the world. kamala harris is just a puppet. she doesn't have any beliefs. she will do what she is told. that is what it comes down to. host: you say easy to vote in new hampshire. early voting is not allowed. do you agree or disagree? caller: no, it is not. host: do you agree with that? caller: yeah, i agree. you should have to get out of your house and go vote in person. you should make the time. only those who really care about voting will do that. most voters are not informed and those are the ones voting democrat. host: do you think that election day should be a holiday so that people can have the time to vote throughout the day? caller: it depends.. around here, you don't wait in

line for more than 10 minutes at most. just do it at lunchtime. it's easy. host: mark in maryland, republican. caller: good morning. i will be voting for trump on election day. i would like to point out france banned mail-in voting in 1975 because a fraud. mexico banned it in 1992 because of fraud. belgium banned it in 20 18. sweden, italy, japan, russia, and the entire middle eey don't allow mail-in voting. jimmy carter ran a bipartisan commission study on mailn voting. they agreed it was the most insecure way to vote. i would like to issue this

challenge to anyone who trusts the post office with their ballot. if you actually trust the post office with your ballot, take $500 cash, put it in an envelope, drive to another town, and mail it to yourself. ask yourself, do you trust the post office with your $500 cash? it is ridiculous. the democrats push for mail-in voting because they wanted to do their usual shenanigans. they have been doing this in every presidential election since 1960. host: will you be voting for larry hogan, your former governor? caller: no. i can't support this man because of the way that he behaved during covid. he was just as bad as every democrat governor in every state. we had everything closed down. we were doing six foot distancing, which they later admit was just a random number

they came up with. even driving around in cars in maryland you see them wearing masks by themselves. they look like mentally ill people. it is really -- host: mark voting for republicans but not voting for former governor larry hogan. mira in pennsylvania, democratic caller. caller: hello. hi, i will be voting democrat. because i think harris is more qualified than trump. trump is basically insane. i will be taking my ballot to the office. i will not mail it. i will be going mail-in, but i will take it to the office myself. host: why is that? caller: i don't trust the post office. i just don't -- i feel more

confident if i make sure it gets to the office. host: are you able to go online and see that your vote has -- caller: yes. they will send an email. host: they will send an email? caller: yes, to let me know that my ballot was received. host: republican in california. hi, rose. caller: you ask good questions. the people are repetitive. like they have a script. it was all about sex. i was thinking i'm going to vote for trump because he will take care of stopping all of this open borders, which will open it up to the world if she is in charge. she was in california and she did the same thing when they went and told the kids to go into the store and steal $950 worth of goods and they were not

allowed to be arrested. i think when it comes to little children, and i could be wrong about this number, but i think 330,000 little children are missing from this migration. i don't think that we should trust her. when she was here, every employee except a few, because 97% of her employees quit. they couldn't take it anymore. host: rose in california, republican. sonya in new carl, ohio, independent. caller: hi. host: good morning. caller: i will be voting in person. host: on election day? caller: yes, on election day. for the first time in my life that i ever think i would vote for trump, but because kennedy

was terminated from this race and had to endorse trump i'm going to follow his lead because he is looking out for the american children. host: andre in rhode island, democratic caller. how do you plan to vote? on election day or before? caller: i will vote in person that day. all of my voting was always done that way. the only exception was during covid when i wanted to avoid lines. i voted early at my city hall. host: do you think the early voting should be allowed? caller: yes, absolutely. early voting in person is fine. host: what is it like in rhode island when you show up to vote on election day? what you have to have with you? caller: you certainly have to have some form of identification. a photo id or something. they double and triple check

everything. host: how do they do it? double and triple check? caller: first, a license. then they open a book and verify where you live. another person verifies that. the state puts you on record. you sign. it matches, they give you the ballot, and devote. host: do you think that that is a good process, what you described? that they should be checking, double checking, triple checking, as you said? caller: absolutely. host: why? caller: because people can vote illegitimately. you don't want that to happen. you don't want people who are not allowed to vote voting. host: susan in lawrence, massachusetts, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i am voting for harris. i have to vote for harris because donald trump had four

years to change the world that he claimed he wanted to. he had four years to do it. he says the democrats can't do it, but he didn't do it either. host: did you vote for him in previous election cycles? caller: no, i voted for reagan. he was a good president. reagan. he was a good one. host: is that the last time you voted? caller: no, i voted democrat for obama. when trump was running in 2016i voted for hillary. i was thinking of giving up on the republicans, because this thing with donald trump, he made me hate the republican party.

i can't deal with the republicans no more. they turn around, and the republican party is supposed to be doing their job for the people, and i never saw a democratic former president give instructions to the democratic party. calling them and telling them what to do. trump is interfering with them. they don't know their job without listening to donald trump. they shouldn't be in office. if they need trump to tell them what to do. host: the former president did in a truth social pro se the house republicans shouldn't put forward a continuing resolution to fund the government and avoid a government shutdown unless it includes the safe act, which would make it a crime for undocumented immigrants to vote in federal elections. republicans have decided not to do that. instead, as soon as today they will put onto the floor a

three-month continuing resolution that doesn't include that language. the senate is likely to pass that, and then it will go to the president's desk to avoid a government shutdown. chris in texas, an independent. chris, good morning. caller: good morning. host: we are listening to you. go ahead. caller: i haven't voted since obama, but most likely i will probably be voting in person and voting for trump. the reason why is how the media portrays the one sidedness of how trump does and what he done over the years and how the democratic party has done the black community and pressed --

everyone with militated skin is black in america because of the context who black people are in america. host: how do you vote in texas? do you have to wait until election day or can you do early voting? caller: we have early voting. you can vote in person. it's easy to vote in texas. it's not like the media portrays it. it is easy to get a voter id card. host: chris in texas. we will leave it there for now and take a break. when we comeack, the institute for public accuracy's norman solomon is here to discuss u.n. foreign policy -- u.s. foreign policy. his book in paperback includes a new section on the were in gaza. later, the washington examiner's james antle discusses campaign 2024. we will be right back. ♪ ♪

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books, home decor, and accessories. there something for every c-span fan, and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations. shop now, or any time, on c-spanshop.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: at our table this morning, norman solomon, the author of this book, "war made invisible: how america hides the human toll of its military machine." good morning. you have this paper book -- paperback version out now, and you added more on the israel-hamas war. tell us your thoughts. guest: basically what we have seen happening in lebanon the last few days is really a replication of what has been going on for 50 weeks now in gaza. i thought it was quite notable that, two days ago, former defense secretary leon panetta said, categorically, that the

attack by israel was "a form of terrorism." what my book goes into is, since last october, the israeli, with u.s. support, has been engaging in de facto terrorism. one of the questions i raise is why, in the politics of the united states, in mass media, that there has been no acknowledgment that israel has been engaged in such terrorism affecting so many people? when you thing about it, the bombing of hospitals, the killing of so many children, most of the 41,000 plus dead are women and children, the methodical use of starvation as a weapon of war. that is so much more than protracted terrorism. so, for instance, why did the

white house green light billions of dollars more weapons to this government that might be called a terrorist organization? host: you mentioned in the news, israeli strikes in lebanon inflict deadly toll in escalation of attacks against hezbollah. guest: at least 50 of those were children. we have 50 children dead just in the last couple days. frankly, courtesy of u.s. taxpayers. i quote in the book israeli generals, who said it would be impossible for israel to continue its military operations in gaza and so forth -- the way in which the israeli government has been basically unhinged, without constraint -- and this is one of the dynamics i explore in this new paperback. that, for close to a year now, president biden has acted like he is some kind of fly on the wall, some peace seeking entity

trying to "can't we all just get along?" when actually it is the united states, with its huge amount of military assistance to israel that is making all this carnage possible. host: what is your response to lawmakers and others, who say israel has a right to defend itself and respond to what happened on october 7? guest: certainly israel had a right to respond to what happened october 7. that is not mean they have the right to slaughter women, children, and others and use starvation as a weapon of war. i would fight, for instance, -- i would cite, for instance, very dramatic speech that a maryland senator gave in february this year, when there was a debate over more military aid to israel. van hollen hi just back from the border area, where huge numbers of trucks were filled with food and medicine and were blocked by the israeli government.

senator van hollen said, in a dramatic for speech in the senate, he said this is a war crime. the people running the israeli government are were criminals, because they are using starvation as a weapon of war, blocking food while people are starving on the other side of the border in gaza. hours later, senator van hollen voted for $14 billion of weapons to israel. we must ask ourselves how is it that republicans and democrats on capitol hill, and the president of the united states, keeps funneling huge amounts of military aid to what former defense secretary leon panetta calls a government engaging in terrorism? this is absently outrageous. host: what do you think is the possible outcome of all this funding and the ongoing conflict there? guest: the outcome is going to

be a continuation of the slaughter. it is long past time we call it what it is. in the book, i note, in the first six weeks of the u.s.-backed assault on gaza, the new york times, the washington post, the los angeles times referred to what was done to the people in israel, that terrible attack by hamas, they referred to that as slaughter 60 times. 60 different uses of the word "slaughter" for what was done by hamas to israelis on october 7. comedy times was the word "slaughter" used by those media outlets to refer to what israel was doing to the women and children in gaza? once. we have that kind of ratio. i also point out in the book, when it comes to other words, that express emotion, human empathy, and so forth, we have had words like "massacre."

125 times, those media outlets used the word "massacre" to describe what happened to the people of israel. only twice with that were used describe what israel, with u.s. backing, was doing to the civilians in gaza. host: that is what the institute for public accuracy does, track the sort of rhetoric, language? guest: well, the institute, we have been around for to 25 years. we do not change what we say based on who is in white house our congress. we have several thousand experts. we are a consortium of policy researchers and analysts. it is about getting outside the bubble of the beltway and really having voices out there who speak not for corporate power, for what martin luther king jr. called the badness of military, it is about human beings. host: who funds organization?

guest: we are nonprofit and do not take any corporate money at all, no money from political parties. host: what should the president have done in response to what happened on october 7 and how israel has responded? and which of the vice president be saying now, in your opinion? guest: the president should have said we do not fund ethnic cleansing. we do not fund the slaughter of women and children and other civilians in gaza. we do not fund the apartheid state -- by the way, human rights watch, amnesty international, the israeli human rights organization, they have been saying for years in reports, israel is an apartheid state. so the president of the united states should have said, we are not going to give money to this apartheid state to increase its ethnic cleansing and drop 2000 pound bombs and other bombs and give ammunition and weaponry to israel why they are perpetrating these crimes against humanity.

that is what the president should have been willing to do, instead of pretending he is some kind of peacemaker. by the way, this is a bipartisan problem. the republicans on capitol hill are even worse. they are even more, so to speak, led thursday -- bloodthirsty. the vice president has been stressing more concern about the civilians in gaza than president biden. but expressing concern does not count very much unless you advocate a change in policy. and the only change in policy that is really going to make a difference, not compassionate words, is to cut off the funding, cut off the flow of weapons to the pipeline that is making all these protracted, ongoing, daily massacres possible. i should at the other candidate for president that is looming, donald trump, would be worse. there is no doubt donald trump would be worse for the people of palestine then vice president harris. why do i say this?

for one thing, donald trump has said, point-blank, that netanyahu, the head of the israeli government, should "finish the job," which clearly conveys he wants even greater slaughter to go on in gaza. but there is more evidence than that. if you look at the four years when president trump was in the white house, the policy towards palestinian people was even far worse than what was the case under obama and has been the case under biden. it is not a great choice, but, clearly, if people in swing states are very concerned about the well-being of the policy and people, the worst choice would be to vote for donald trump. host: let's get to calls. marvin in chattanooga, tennessee, independent. caller: thank you so much for taking my call. i will say that mr. solomon has

actually answered my questions, which simply was, are we unconditionally tied to israel for whatever they do with our resources? the other question i wanted to ask now, what would be the repercussions, politically and financially, if we withdrew our support from israel? thank you. host: ok. guest: thank you for that question. unfortunately, there has been essentially a blank check. whatever israel does, the u.s. government, under democrats and republicans, have simply gone along with this, said this is unfortunate, this is too bad, we wish you would do a better job of safeguarding civilians in gaza. and i document in this paperback edition of "war made invisible," no matter what is said from the

white house or foggy bottom, netanyahu and the people running the israeli government, they are savvy about u.s. politics. they know that the words do not matter. it is the flow of weapons and ammunition they care about, and that gets to the other part of your very good question. i think the repercussions would be, in terms of global results, a lot of support from a lot of governments, especially people around the world, including what's called the arab streets. essentially, all hell would b reak loose, because pundits would condemn a cut of aid to israel, military aid to israel. yet the polling is very clear. this goes into the question about kamala harris. she is unwisely refusing to call

for an arms embargo in israel, even though the polling is clear that most voters in this country support a cutoff of military aid to israel as long as the war on gaza continues. that is especially striking because recent polling shows that, in pivotal swing states, by far, most voters said, if that position, announced by harris, were to be put forward, they would be more likely to vote for her than las -- less, if you would call for an arms embargo. it is a question of courage, a question of seeing beyond the conventional wisdom in taking the easy way out and being afraid that the israel lobby will go after you. and one more side note. in the washington post today, there is a typical column by a garden-variety booster of the madness of militarism, david

ignatius, and he seriously calls israel a light onto the nation. can you imagine? an apartheid state, a government that has been slaughtering women and children and others in gaza, that has been engaged in ethnic cleansing, not only in gaza but the west bank. and here's this eminent, often praised, top-tier columnist at the washington post is telling us it is a light onto the nation, onto the world. i would sum up to say, hey, this is wrong. we have to reorient ourselves. host: what role and responsibility -- how does any country respond to the way hamas conducts itself? guest: that is a good question. i think hamas should be condemned for what it did october 7. it was an atrocity.

it was 250 atrocities, plus taking the hostages. totally reprehensible, as with all attacks on civilians. that was a terrible set of atrocities. and, since the united states does not fund hamas but does fund israel, we have a special responsibility. we condemn hamas, as we should. we don't give them a penny. but we give tens of billions of dollars of weapons to israel. if you look historically, as i did in this new paperback of "war made invisible," when you look at what happened october 7, it was a terrible atrocity. now, for the last 50 weeks, a much huger set of atrocities is going on every day in gaza, courtesy of u.s. taxpayers. host: dennis in california, republican. good morning. caller: good morning.

first of all, i would like to say that the united states is also giving funds and money to iran. who is sending our money to hamas. the other thing i really want to make a comment about is you guys have so many people on here anti-israel that i do not see very me -- very many people whocome on are pro-israel. as far as israel being an apartheid, the only democracy in the middle east, they have every race of people under the sun living there, and hamas is the ones putting their own people in danger. they are giving food, they warned the people ahead of time. hamas is stopping the people from even leaving. the thing i would like for you guys to stop doing is lying about that, because, at the end of the day, i never hear anybody

talk about those children that were killed in israel, those beautiful children killed on a soccer field. all you people ever talk about is palestine and gaza. by the way, i do remember that israel gave up the gaza strip for peace. if hamas lady their guns down, there would be peace. if israel laid their guns down, hamas would slaughter them. i am sick and tired of hearing the one-sided garbage about palestine -- host: ok. all right, janice. guest: thanks for your comments. there are so many misconceptions in your comments i couldn't possibly get through all of them. let me say this. first, as a jewish american, i do not like the claim that somehow israel represents the jewish people. the jewish people are very diverse. also, the reality is israel is not only an apartheid state, but it is one where there are two

levels of citizenship. 20% of israel is arab citizens, but they do not have the same rights. the inequality of people inside israel, to put it mildly, is very extreme. to call israel a democracy is, frankly, not only mistaken but absurd. one of the precepts of my book, "war made invisible," is we have to get to a point where every human right is equally precious, not only in our eyes but in policy. unfortunately we have, in news media -- i differ with this idea that there is not sufficient attention to those who suffered october 7. there has been tremendous coverage, as there should be. there is inadequate experience of those suffering under the guns -- we need a single

standard of human rights. unfortunately, tacitly and, often especially, we have two tears of grief taken. we have one level, one as an israeli, an american, someone in a country killed by a designated enemy of the united states, such as in ukraine. that compassion is totally appropriate. what is lacking is the discounted approach to people who are tacitly denigrated as less important. this is where we really have this inequity, not only in policy but in media coverage and how we discussed human lives. host: what are your sources that you go to for accurate numbers? guest: the united nations. i have a lot of data in the book about what the u.n. has been saying. the health ministry in gaza has,

for many years, been proven to be accurate in terms of the suffering and so forth. we would go right now to today, where the health department in lebanon have calculated 50 children killed in the last couple days thanks to the bombardment. we really need to evaluate the sources and realize that there are often agendas running and try to look at a muscle the city -- multiplicity of the sources. host: what would you say to viewers -- you just cited the government of lebanon, the government of gaza, the ministry of health, and the united nations cared what would you say to viewers would be skeptical of those organizations? guest: the united nations is largely dominated by the u.s. on the security council, so forth. the united nations secretary general is only in office courtesy of a veto power not being exercised by the u.s. government.

the united nations is not this kind of biased entity. it is giving us data that is very valuable. host: the president will speak before the united nations general assimilate today in new york. the washington post -- tensions loom over biden's meeting. below that headline is this one, iranian president val's response to the killing of hamas leader in tehran, and the iranian leader also giving remarks today. your thoughts? guest: it would be a really refreshing change if president biden could speak to the united nations and say the middle east for one thing, is a region that should not be dominated by any power, and that the u.s. will, henceforth, not serve the interests of israel alone but look at a totality of the region

and see how we can, for one thing, denuclearize the region. if you look at the thousands of articles that have come out in major media outlets in the last year about israel and gaza and so forth, it is almost impossible -- it very rarely is possible -- to find any reference to the fact that israel is the only nuclear weapons-armed state in the region. as we have seen with the attack -- again, i think former defense secretary panetta is correct, it is an act of terrorism -- we cannot rely on self-restraint coming from israel. if we are going to denuclearize the region, for one thing, i wish president biden would announce he is no longer going to continue to support the killing of the iran nuclear deal that president obama brought about, that president trump

advocated to pull the u.s. out of, and the biden administration, for more than three and a half years now, has basically continued to prevent the resuscitation of the iran nuclear deal. that would be a very constructive step to take. the message, do as we say, not as we do, is never convincing for the nations of the world, and yet, that is what the u.s. government has been saying about, among other things, nuclear weapons in the middle east. in fact, the u.s. government officially will not even acknowledge that israel has nuclear weapons, and that has to change. host: we go to audrey in south carolina, democratic caller. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to ask you, why are the american people so sanitized when it comes to the american media and the war going on in gaza? we do not get a chance to see

executive what is happening over in gaza. the international moves -- news media shows exec he what is going on in gaza. if the american people were to see exactly what is going on there, their stance will change when it comes to sending arms over there -- host: which international news outlets do you watch? caller: matter-of-fact, i look at israel news media. i look at al jazeera. i look at sky news. i look at there's another one i look at. if you look at the international news, they show exactly what is going on over there -- host: we will get a response to your point. guest: i think that is a very good point you make. al jazeera has internationally provided valuable coverage of footage of the continuing carnage in gaza. just a couple days ago, the

israeli government closed the out is your office in ramallah -- the al jazeera office in ramallah. that is supposed to be a palestinian authority area, yet it will shut down. another attack on the freedom of the press. i point out in the book that israel has a tremendous history of targeting and killing journalists. journalism is dangerous to the israeli government, and the committee to protect journalists, based in new york, has documented, as of this week, at least 116 journalists killed by israel in the last year in gaza. the israeli government wants to cover the eys of the world. host: charles, independent. caller: hi. i hope i have time to get this in.

i want to start off by saying i am not anti-israel, i am anti-zionist. if you look at the history there, since 1947, 85% of that region was arabs and persians, and the other 15 was jewish -- 15% was jewish. since then, over 2000 settlements have been added by israel in the area. now, what do we see now? every eye is on gaza. look at the plo in the west bank i what is happening over there. they are not hamas. they do not like each other. israel just took 5000 acres of land for new settlement over there. israel is the placing all the arabs and throwing them in camps, basically concentration camps, and taking their land. this has nothing to do with

hamas -- host: all right, charles. your response to his thought, but he is saying, "i am not anti-israel, i am anti-zionist." what is the difference? guest: zionism is an ideology that it should be a jewish state and palestine should, in effect, become a jewish country. one of the basic flaws is a lot of palestinians have lived there century after century. so there are many interpretations of what zionism means, but i would say, and i would say to the caller, that essentially the united nations security council has condemned this extension of zionism, if you will, to include settlements that have expanded and expanded and expanded in the west bank with resolution not -- not that the national security council has actually done anything about

the declared illegality of the settlements. but they continue to expand. if you look at the map of the west bank, it is like swiss cheese, because more and more settlements -- by the way, when i drove through there, you can see the green is what has been taken by the settlements. when we hear u.s. politicians talking about a two-state solution if -- it becomes complete fantasy because of the expansion of settlements in the last couple decades. the net effect, when a member of congress says, well, i support a two-state solution, it is a way of checking the box and saying, i do not -- do not bother me because i do not want to deal with the realities on the ground there. host: let's talk about the countries around israel. what role is jordan playing, egypt playing, saudi arabia?

what role are they playing now in this ongoing conflict? what response ability to you think they have? guest: their role is basically to give lip service to supporting palestinian people while nuzzling up closer and closer to the united states, which the u.s. really supports that ghosn is with egypt, jordan, saudi arabia. none of them are anything near democracy. they are dictatorships. so the effect has been kind of a tacit deal that was cut. people will note, for instance, there has been a lot of cheerleading in washington or a rep restaurant -- for a rapprochement between the saudi leadership in israel. what's so good about that? those countries i mentioned, jordan, egypt, saudi arabia, they all tortured dissidents. date do nothing to help policy

and people other than rhetoric -- they do nothing to help palestinian people other than rhetoric. host: what do you make of this headline from the wall street journal? iran's president has chance to change it will medic tone today in new york -- diplomatic tone today in new york. they say he aims to paint his government as one the west can deal with. guest: that has been a lot of positive momentum in iran in the last year. i was there when the president was first elected, and he took the country backward. it was more and more repressive. there has been terrible repression against people demonstrating for human rights in iran. but the most recent election brought more reformist leadership to iran, and i think the possibilities are there.

this goes to the failure of the biden administration to meet iran partway, to see if there could be a resuscitation of the iran nuclear deal. why? largely, the israeli government does not want any such rapprochement. ultimately, israel would like a war, a war iwth iran, and drawing the united states into one. host: what evidence do you have for that? guest: the rhetoric from netanyahu. he has called for it often, confronting iran. netanyahu is someone who has fought tooth and nail both to prevent the iran nuclear deal and then to kill. it is absolutely incontrovertible that netanyahu wants donald trump to win this election in november, and part of the agenda is to then go ahead and militarily confront iran. host: our

, a republican. caller: mr. solomon, you seem to make a lot of comments that are just generalities, sort of catchphrases. you say they are killing all the journalists, and it is all the responsibility of israel for those deaths. i can tell you have not been in war. you can have three people involved in a shootout and not figure out who shot who. you seem to hate -- i guess that's the only thing -- that state of israel -- guest: let me address those things. i refer you to the committee to protect her and lists right now, and they document 116 journalists killed in gaza by israel. you may not like that stat, you may not want to hear about it, but that is a reality. the committee to protect journalists makes clear, and has for years now, that israel intentionally targets journalists.

i think jewish israelis, arab israelis, palestinians should all have equal rights, period. host: he said that you hate the israeli state. guest: well, i don't know if "hate" is the right word. i detested the apartheid south african state. i detest the apartheid israeli state. i do not like when government slaughtered civilians. i think the u.s. should not be supporting such activities. let me briefly at that secretary of state antony blinken, for years, has gone around talking about a rules-based order. that sounds great. are coming from a representative of a country that launched invasions of iraq and afghanistan, libya, and so forth. what it really boils down to is we make the rules and we break the rules.

you have to look at history. the rhetoric is not solved it. host: he is a question from one of our viewers -- does mr. solomon think israel plans on a permanent occupation of southern lebanon as a buffer from hezbollah? guest: the history is a back-and-forth being driven out of southern lebanon, coming back. it has not been a tenable permanent location for israel to occupy. it is certainly a goal, to get hezbollah out of southern lebanon. the history in the last several decades, since 1982, has been continual massive wreckage of society in lebanon, destroying the health care system, killing many thousands of people, causing tremendous trauma. and it is happening again. this goes to how to u.s. policy towards israel, in terms of fact, is being replicated in lebanon, just ask has taken

place in the last nearly one year in gaza. they should be completely opposed by the people of the united states and bring our government into some sort of sane policy. host: do you track hows believe, think, and feel about this ongoing conflict, and which leader in israel do you think would do what you are talking about, equal rights among all the groups that lived there? guest: the peace now movement has really lost strength in the last few years in israel, so there are not a lot of prominent voices in the direction of equal rights for all. if you look at the daily newspaper in israel, you get a multiplicity of points of view, many of which call for the basic changes i've been advocating here. articles over there that you would hardly not find in the new york times or washington post. in terms of leadership and society as a whole,

understandably, they have been traumatized by what happened october 7. there is a culture there, a mass culture, that treats the palestinian people, views their lives as not important. this is, i think, tragic. it is, in a way, paralleled by a lot of u.s. attitudes by the so-called war on terror, that if iraqis die, it is not a big deal, but if americans die, it is a huge deal. we have to change that attitude by modeling acute -- modeling i t here. host: democratic caller. caller: thank you. thank you for a very sober and sane analysis of what is going on in israel and gaza. first of all, we see massive restrictions from the people against the netanyahu regime --

demonstrations from the people against the netanyahu regime, so if you could enlighten us on what the public sentiment in israel is. secondly, what kind of hold does israel have on the united states that would make its leaders, our leaders in the united states, stray from what we normally see as fair and balanced and proportionality in response, as far as israel is concerned? my last question is with really like for you to tell us a little bit about what's going on in sudan and compare that to israel and why we never hear about sudan. those are my three questions. thank you very much. guest: thank you. more than a year ago, there were very large demonstrations against the netanyahu government, its efforts to kill the judiciary, and so forth, and the country was really split. after october 7, that was

largely set aside. netanyahu has a tremendous motive to keep wars going and expanding, because he faces not only prosecution but prison time for his own alleged corruption, which seems to be a pretty strong case against him. so the terrain has shifted. protests now to get hostages back, because there are will apparently 100 hostages in gaza, and netanyahu prioritizes continuing war and expanding war. to the extent of protests lately, that is what it has been about. to the hold, it is multifactorial in the united states. it is also forgotten that the block of zionists in the u.s. are christian zionists. there are organizations of members, and they are fervent,

for theological reasons, to support the israeli government, and that is a very, as is with some of the mainstream zionist jewish organizations, it is an anti-human rights position. it is against human rights for everyone and tremendous pressure on congress -- host: what is the belief there, the fundamental belief in christian zionists? guest: it is that, first, by supporting israel, it will enhance, as i understand the theology, a second coming. therefore, israel is a tool -- ultimately, a lot of those people, ironically, are very anti-semitic, but they see israel as a useful steppingstone to the future that they look forward to. we can't forget, unfortunately, that apac, as a lobbying group, is very powerful. they pledged and came through on $100 million in campaign funds.

they took out jamaal bowman in the bronx and westchester in new york. they took out cori bush. and if i could briefly depart here, she is a very courageous congresswoman. she is in until the end of the year in st. louis. she introduced a resolution in october, shortly after the tragedy on october 7, for a cease-fire in israel and in gaza. that's one of the reasons apac targeted her, because she actually said "let's stop the killing," and that is antithetical to the fanatic "israel can do no wrong" lobby. and in notable fact which i make in the paperback book of "war made invisible" that there were 18 cosponsors of the cease-fire resolution cori bush introduced in august. every one of them was a person of color. many months went by, and still,

only 18 cosponsors. we should ask ourselves, why didn't one white member of congress sign on as a cosponsor? it goes on to something i explore in the book which is the racial aspects -- not the only aspect -- but the racial aspect that make it easier to objectify palestinian people with bias against them. that is very pernicious and something we need to look at more clearly. the tragedy in sudan is horrible, and i think it goes to a very compact situation. i am no expert on africa, but the shortage of u.s. media coverage on that terrible conflict goes to the imbalances of how u.s. mute -- news media tend to view the world. host: sheila up next in ohio,

independent. caller: hello, are you there? host: yes, we are listening. caller: first, i would like to say we are really enjoying what mr. sullivan has to say. he has touched on a number of things, apac, religion, the war machine we have going on. he is hitting it right on the head. i would like to see a single state solution. but i do not think it is going to happen -- host: let's take that point. a single state solution. guest: well, i think a two-state solution is pretty much dead for reasons i mentioned. the settlements are really honeycombing the west bank. very difficult, but i think necessary, to look for a binational state or some kind of state that ensures the democratic rights of everyone. very steep climb, but necessary.

the caller mentioned -- and thank you for the call -- the phrase "war machine." as it happens, that is the subtitle of my book, "war made invisible: how america hides the human toll of its military machine." when i went to write the afterword for this book, i thought, well, how do the events in gaza relate to this title and subtitle? the invisibility relates, because the news media may be filled with coverage of gaza, but the actual suffering, what war is all about, the trauma, the death, the maiming -- that is not really conveyed. so there is an invisibility of a war, paradoxically, even though the war gets tremendous coverage. the other part of it is how does the war machine relate? the war machine relates because the israeli military is an

adjunct to the u.s. military. it is a separate command structure, they may have disagreements at times, but, basically, they're functioning in tandem in the middle east. host: cnn with a headline, moments ago, israel launches targeted airstrikes in a root. guest: "targeted." this is such a euphemism. the terrorizing of people in lebanon is horrific. the orwellian bus phrase, "targeted attacks," are just a cover for slaughter. it is tragic, no matter where it happens in the world. but as a taxpayer -- i assume most people watching our taxpayers -- we are paying for this, and we need to demand the u.s. treasury no longer be looted or funneled to pay for this kind of carnage. i should add where i work,

accuracy.org, we have an action button on our page where people can go to rootsaction.org where, in a minute, you can message your senators and particular representative to support a resolution that senator bernie sanders is introducing for a cut off to prevent, to block $20 billion worth of military assistance to israel the white house just greenlighted. host: let me get this viewer in, bob from massachusetts, your gu is ignoring that if isrl pulls back, the attacks on them would continue. he says as soon as this advocating for support ends, the complete and utter knowledge of the israels can begin. guest: this is a complete myth that has been propagated for decades. i recommend the reading of

columbia university professor rashid khalidi that, for decades, israel has the strongest military military from those around it. so this mythology, which goes back to the "exodus" film and all that, the mythology that israel is threatened militarily by surrounding states, it is already of the messaging system that obscures the realities on the ground that israel continues to slaughter palestinians and now people in lebanon. you may ask yourself why is it the ratio of dead in gaza and past conflicts has been overwhelmingly killing way more palestinians in israel, as is

the case with gaza, close to 50 to 1. for every israeli who died, close to 50 palestinians, most civilians, killed. host: norman solomon is the director of the institute for public accuracy, and his book, "war made invisible: how america hides the human toll of its military machine," now out in paperback. coming up, with six weeks to go until election day, the washington examiner's james antle discusses campaign 2024. first, more of your phones and comments. start dialing in now. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ >> attention, middle and high school students across america.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back in open forum. before we get to your thoughts on public policy or politics, we want to let you know what is happening on capitol hill today and where our c-span cameras will be. at the senate health committee, they will hear from the ceo of the drugs ozempic and wovy. the ceo will testify on the sts of those two drugs. we will have live coverage on c-span 3 at 10:00 a.m. eastern time, our free mobile app, c-span now, our c-span.org. and they will hear from crowdstrike's senior vice president of goebel operation on a software update that left 8.5

million microsoft windows devices off-line. you can watch that live at 2:00 p.m. on c-span 3, c-span now, or c-span.org. in the house today, from punchbowl news, speaker mike townsend and house gop leaders threw in the final towel to move forward in a government funding plan that will need lots of democratic help to pass. they set up a house for vote as soon as today on a continuing resolution to keep federal agencies open through december 20 than it will be up to the senate to finish work on the measure before next week's shutdown deadline. house republicans will bring this to the floor under a suspension of the rules, and that requires two thirds of the voting in the house to approve it. it means they will need help from a lot of democrats. all that on the table this morning to discuss.

we go to marian in bethesda, maryland, democratic caller. what's on your mind? caller: i wanted to respond to the previous guest talking about israel. i do not think what israel is doing is terrorism at all. it is war. israel was attacked. they were attacked on multiple fronts and they are fighting back on multiple fronts. that is not terrorism. it is war. war is not a good thing. it is terrible. people get killed, buildings get destroyed. i do not get it sensible for these people to be attacking israel and demanding israel not fight back. i think the way the media is talking about what is happening is totally antisemitic, honestly, because they say that israel attacked a school. they don't say israel attacks hamas leaders hiding in a school. or they say israel attacks have at home, they do not say israel attacks the opening of a tunnel

hidden in a private home. i think israel is in the war because other countries attacked them here they have the right to respond. it's not fair. but they have a right to respond to protect their own country. host: what about the response of israel, how they doing that response? do you have any concerns with the amount of weapons they have versus hamas? caller: well, i think hamas is not very sensible to attack someone who has way more weapons than they do, but i do not think israel can just allow themselves to be continued to be attacked. they need to do something about it. we know hamas hides in the public. they use human shields. israel is saying we have to go there,. host: marion there in bethesda. jack in ohio, a republican.

we are in open forum. what's on your mind? caller: i appreciate listening to your guys -- to you guys. your guest there, was it mr. solomon? host: yeah. caller: i am curious. he made a comment here he said "i detest apartheid by israel." he is acting as if israel did not have a right to defend himself. they see the president or prime minister of israel? why should not israel have the right to defend herself against a terrorist organization who slaughtered 1200 innocent people at a concert? you just made a comment i made curious. why would it matter how much armament israel would have against thomas? and i know you cannot answer for him, but i would like the american people to at least consider. israel is a sovereign state, and their prime minister makes the decision to defend israel and its innocent people. host: and what about the money

that is sent -- or military aid sent by the u.s.? you think we should be involved to the extent we are? caller: well, i have hesitancy on us sending all countries so much money. but to our allies, when they are attacked by a terrorist organization, yes, i am all for it. host: what about money to ukraine? same support? caller: well, again, they seem to be our ally, and i would support them. i would russian how much money we give them -- i would question how much money we give them. for ukraine, we have given over $200 billion. there has to be a black line somewhere we draw, where we cannot give you any more money, but we have supported them. host: christine in texas, independent. caller: thank you for taking my

call. it behooves me, as americans, as patriots and good citizens, can stand to hear trump's lies on stage. the things he says out of his mouth. i am an independent. however, i will be voting for what i believe will be right. you know, our children and grandchildren what to look up -- the president asked when we were young, what do you want to be? i want to be president. what does that mean now? so many lies. i can't believe the american people want violence -- he is violent, his rhetoric is a violence. it is a shame that we, today, as americans, would stand for that. where are the good and decent

people? why are we not united rather than divided? i am an independent, so i will vote either way, but the point being, i couldn't see myself voting for an obvious lie. and he has committed so many crimes. host: all right, christine in texas an independent. laura in prickling, and -- laura in berkeley -- laura in brooklyn, democrat. caller: hi. your previous guest, norman solomon, i am raised a christian. i am raised to love israel, no matter what, as a christian. but when i got into college -- i am 59-year-old. when i got into college in my 20's, and you learn to do research, and it was in my poly sigh class -- poli-sci class. i learned so much about the occupation of palestine.

i ask everyone who believes in israel to go back before october 7 and look at a date in life in the palestinian people. look at the apartheid condition, the occupation, not being able to leave your home to go to work without a pass given to you by israel. not having freedoms. think about every war israel has -- every fight israel has had in gaza, the first thing they do is destroy the palestinian infrastructure. they take every opportunity to kill off the palestinian people, to limit the population from standing up and rising up against them and calling for an individual state. israel has committed genocide. we look at october 7, but we have not gone back decades and decades prior to october 7. i think that's what norman

solomon was touching on, the continuous suffering of palestinians, where the israeli police, the idf, you know, can do, at will, what they want to the palestinian people on a day-to-day basis -- host: all right. we go to rodney in miami, republican. what is on your mind? we are in open form. caller: good morning. i would consider voting for harris but i have a certain number of questions i would like her to answer before i vote for her. it will take me just a minute. how many times have you spoke to custom and border protection? how many times have you traveled the rio grande border at eagle pass? why did your administration fly

immigrants into the u.s. and grant the mass parole? do we need more poverty brought into the country? d believe in marxism as your dad taught at stanford? do people e -- do you believe in reparations? do you agree with the termination of a pregnancy in the seventh, eighth and ninth month? did you approve of keeping the gate open given the general milley said they would be targeted by suicide bomber? did you give the sniper the go ahead to take the bomber out when he had him in his sites? did you approve of the drone attack that killed a family in the retaliation of the suicide bomber? heavy called any of the families of the 13 marines killed to offer condolences? please define a woman? d believe bidenomics has worked?

host: all right. several questions from you. she will be in arizona later this week. cnn reporting officials are awaiting a potential visit by the vice president to the u.s.-mexico border while in arizona on friday. dee in florida, independent. caller: thank you. i have never called the station before. host: welcome. caller: thank you very much. on three issues. a question. number one, israel has the right to exist. they have the right to exist. the palestinian people also have the right to exist. my father, when he was at the united nations, he and george bush posted a resolution 242 calling for a two state resolution.

if this can come to the middle east, we have to have a two state question solved. there must be a resolution for israel to live and exist as a state and people. there must be a resolution backing of the palestinian people. if we don't back of the two state question there will never be peace. why cannot vote for mr. trump. he trusts russia's intelligence over that of the united states. that is a hard thing for me to swallow. when nato was formed 75 years ago to hold the world together it was to fight things. donald trump says he trust the soviet union, russian intelligence or data --over

that of the united states. i will give you my number. host: let's not give up phone numbers or addresses. the caller mentioned the united nations. president biden will be in new york with other world leaders this week for the annual united nations general a simile gathering. president biden speaks today. you can find coverage of that online at c-span.org or the free video mobile app c-span now. the iranian leader expected to speak today, and the president of ukraine will be addressing world leaders when he visits the united states this week as they gather there in new york. according to principal news, mr. zelenskyy will be in washington to talk to congressional leaders. the caller mentioned the former president. mr. trump wanting house republicans to include in any

continuing resolution to fund the government the save act which would make it illegal for undocumented immigrants to vote in federal elections, something already illegal. house republicans had insisted that we put into a continuing resolution. they wanted a six month cr. yesterday republicans in the house, the leadership at least decided to move forward with the so-called clean cr. no policy attached to it and it would fund the government for three months. looks like senate democrats are on board and house democrats. here is the majority leader chuck schumer talking about the agreed bipartisan package to keep the government funded until december. [video] >> the matter is straightforward. we have less than a week to pass funding through the house, the senate and onto the president's desk. both sides will have to act solariously and with good

faith to meet the funding deadline .any delay could push us into a shutdown. i hope and trust this will not happen. as we proceed it's important to remove her negotiations did not have to wait until the last minute. this agreement could have very easily been reached weeks ago, but speaker johnson and house republicans chose to listen to donald trump's partisan demands instead of working with us from the start to reach a bicameral, bipartisan agreement. remember, donald trump has spent the entire month urging the house republicans to shut the government down if his poison pills were not passed. this is outrageously cynical. donald trump knows perfectly well that would mean chaos and pain and needless heartache for the american people, but as usual he doesn't care. host: the majority leader on the

senate floor talking about the continuing resolution. according to reports, as early as today the house could take up the three month continuing resolution. watch live coverage here on c-span of the house of representatives and on c-span2, the senate. carl in louisville, kentucky. democratic caller. caller: a couple of weeks ago you interviewed tim burchard from tennessee. u.s. to very straightforward question. was he pronouncing the vice president's name incorrectly on purpose? his response was, uh. that was great reporting. i wish more would do the same thing. if you're going to talk smack, you have to get the name right. i assume you're doing a simulcast on the first for the debate? host: the vice presidential debate. caller: correct. host: yes. that is the plan. caller: great.

we will see when the first. host: we are taking your phone calls as well when we cover that debate on c-span before and after. ron in san clemente, california. republican. caller: yes, thank you for taking my call. i am a republican. old-time republican. i have to clear the air here. a lot of people have some misconceptions about maga. i'm not a maga person. first of all, in 1820, there was the missouri compromise which separated the northern states from the southern states, making it slave states and half slave and half free. the calling was -- that was number one. number two, we've had maga before. the first thing we had was

the know nothings in 1850. they ran for eight years. they had a platform. here is what it was. because of the influx of tremendous irish immigrants from the potato famine that came to the united states. this started in massachusetts. the know nothings where the people that said all men are created equal except for new gros, foreigners and catholics. that lasted for eight years, from 1850 to 1858. then we got in the later the 1880's another group called the mugwumps. they would profess one side and then vote on the other side. host: your point? we do have time to go through all the history. your point is we've had the --

your point is what? caller: the point is, this variant of republicanism, the marjorie taylor greenes, jim jordans, jim comers, lindsey grahams, they are political -- when you say opportunist, that's a euphemism for something better. the bottom line is these people are not for our country. host: you are a republican? caller: i am a republican and a firm believer in the conservatives but this is not republicanism. host: i will go on to steve in york, pennsylvania. independent. caller: thank you. a couple of things. when dealing with israel, i'm anti-united nations. we have had five agreements since 1948 dealing with israel.

the first one was dealing with dividing the country and half. -- in half. the world has eight people. twos-tens of 1%, about 14 million are in israel. i'm a christian. it is completely off-the-wall because god gave them that land. they said that is my land. you take care of it for me. that's in the old testament. you had 20 something countries that are muslim that don't want these people. i know some people -- host: when you say these people, what does that imply? caller: i'm talking about -- ok. the nation of israel is the country you see right now. even more so according to the bible. the people that are palestinians

are not true palestinians. they gave them egypt, jordan and other countries around 1948. these countries did not want them. host: whitey think the bible is instructional -- why do you think the bible is instructional? caller: it is the word of god. i have seen prophecy in my 78 years come to pass. host: the bible should dictate policy? caller: for me personally it dictates what i vote for. host: ok. we will go to eastman, georgia. republican caller. good morning to you. caller: thank you for taking my call. this is the first time ever i got through to call in. i'm a 71-year-old black female. first-time voting republican.

the reason i went to the republican party is because i believe in trump policy. i believe netanyahu needs to be put in his place. he's not listening to the biden-harris administration. i do believe he will listen to trump, because they don't listen to females. they are not going to listen to harris. it is time for the ward an -- war to end. he's committing genocide over there. is killing off the younger population. of course he's killing off the older population. it's about time for this to be stopped. trump is the only one. i called trump the pit bull. put the pit bull on netanyahu and get this were stopped. host: pete in ohio, republican. caller: i'm voting by mail this year. the reason why, i like voting by

mail in ohio. it gives me the ability to review the ballot. you can take extra time to discern what is going on. when i'm at home i have the ability to calmly go over some of that stuff in the leisure of my home and my timeframe. it makes it easier for me. plus, some of these side issues on the ballot here in ohio are tricky. you really have to pay attention when you vote yes or no. it is not just simply something you can figure out. host: what are some of the ballot initiatives this time around? caller: one is called issue 1.

it's an issue about whether or not to have the state representatives redistrict or define district, or have some type of committee, pre-appointed people. depending on how they work at it, you know, it will be a yes or no in favor or not in favor of that. i have to see how it's worded in order to make sure i get my vote counted. host: pete from ohio. camp hill, pennsylvania. fred is a democrat. caller: how are you today? what i'm calling for, i voting a straight democratic ticket. it's important that all people vote a straight democratic ticket. we need to keep the senate and the house. we have to take the house back. if it is not done, kamala harris

will have a very difficult time fulfilling her agenda. so, what we have to do is when we go into the voting booth and especially i'm talking to all the women who want to keep roe v. wade the law of the land, people who want to increase the minimum wage, find affordable housing, things that are important to our country and the people in it, have a democratic house and a democratic senate. i'm voting for bob casey for senate, for janelle stilson to replace scott perry who's an insurrectionist. a sycophant of donald trump. host: fred in pennsylvania. we will take a break. when we come back we will turn to campaign 2024. james antle of the washington examiner will be here to talk about the latest from the campaign trail. six weeks to go before election day. we will be right back.

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>> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balance, unfiltered coverage of government. taking it over the policies are debated and decided all with the support of america's cable companies. c-span. 45 years and counting, powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: james antle is at her table this morning, executive editor at the washington examiner. let's start with your recent headline. there is one way harris could show she serious about debating trump again. she said in recent days she would like to have a second debate. the former president said it was too late. guest: there's been a back-and-forth between the two of them. they debated the terms of the debate each time there has been

talk of having a debate. former president trump's first debate of this general election cycle against president biden upended the race. it is the reason why biden is no longer running for reelection. that is why kamala harris is now ascended to the top of the democratic ticket. the two of them after some back-and-forth over the ground rules of their first debate did ultimately debate. now harris happy with how the first debate went would like a second. trump perhaps less happy and does not want a second, although he argues anybody wanting a rematch probably lost the debate. i don't think you have to go that far but what both candidates really want more than free and open debate is to produce a negative new cycle for their opponent. i think the way the abc news debate went made the trump

campaign conclude most network debates would not produce that outcome. harris is happy that perhaps such a debate could. if she really is going to take the anytime, anyplace stands that trump did when biden was in the race, which he has abandoned since harris has been the democratic nominee, she would debate him on fox. i think that would be her best opportunity to actually get trump on the debate stage. there are obvious reasons why they might not want to debate on fox. fox would be the likeliest scenario to produce a negative news cycle for harris, which is why trump might be open to doing it. if they are serious about it other than just debating whether there will be another debate, that would probably be the way to go. host: what about headlines the vice president is considering a border visit when she's in arizona later this week? to close the gap the former president has in polling on the

issue? guest: it could be smart for her to go to the border. it would close off a certain amount of she has barely been to the border. her role as border czar, if she can be described as the border czar has been a hotly debated topic. i don't think a single visit which will double the number of visits she has made during her tenure, i don't think that will erase the former president's advantage on the issue or make all the political liabilities associated with what is happened with the border under president biden's first term go away. but it would at least show something. there's always the risk that by doing that it does focus the new cycle on something that's very much a negative for harris. host: we are taking questions and comments on the latest campaign cycle. start die linke now.

democrat -- start die linke now -- dialing in now. democrats,, [indiscernible] . --democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text in at (202) 748-8003. james antle, this is a headline in usa today. the bro vote. they dual over what it needs to be a man in america. what is the bro vote and where does it matter? guest: when you talk about a race that will come down to fewer than a hundred thousand votes in seven states, anybody matters. you don't have to be a particularly large voting block. both trump and harris are trying to turn out young men. trump has been appearing on a number of podcasts trying to reach this demographic. i think the thought is that joe rogan, rfk junior, tulsi

gabbard, tucker carlson, these are media personalities who have come aligned with trump who have a big audience with these types of voters. i think trump in particular would like to turn out a number of people who did not vote in the midterm elections. in many cases did not vote in 2020. you look at some of the polling, he has an advantage. sometimes as high as nine points or 10 points among low propensity voters. many are male, economically disengaged to have not turned out in past elections. harris is worried about the possibility some of her voters will feel overconfident and stay home, the disengaged and stay home. there is a real play for voters who have not been at the center of attention in past election cycles. host: the harris campaign on youtube has a digital ad.

10 million -- $10 million ad buy targeting white men and wisconsin, pennsylvania, the battleground states important to both of these presidential campaigns. white dudes are harris. here's the ad. [video] >> white dudes, i think we are sticking about how much we suck. every time we go on it is the same story. we are the problem. yeah, some white dudes are. trump and all of his maga buddies are they can get worse, shouting nonsense and acting like they speaker us when they don't. all they have ever done is screw us over. if you're not on the maga train, it hit me. this is not about picking teams. it's about who has a plan that will make life better for me and my family. i have been doing my own research and decided to check out kamala harris and tim walz. before you jump down my throat,

they are talking to guys like us. no lectures, no bs. just real solutions to protect our freedoms and help us take care of the people who matter. honestly, i think harris and walz will make that happen. you are your own man. if anyone gives you crap about it, it is none of their dman business -- damn. business host: james antle? guest: it's aimed at the idea the democrats are going to preen morally at white male voters to get some of them particularly the working-class voters to potentially vote for harris. it is noteworthy that walz plays a prominent role in this ad. tim walz was chosen apart because he is supposed to be someone who could speak to these voters. clearly with the teamsters not endorsing harris and with

michigan very much in play, pennsylvanian and wisconsin, trying to get some of these voters is sort of a strategy. there are some risks involved that the cake might be baked with a lot of the voters and turning out white women, white suburban women might really be the better play for them. clearly they are trying to take on what has been seen as a liability for democrats in general. this ticket in particular trying to turn it into a bit more of a positive. host: tim in charlotte, north carolina. independent. caller: good morning. how are you? host: what are your thoughts or question on campaign 2020 for? -- 2024? you can start with your comment. caller: you are not going to like what i've got to say. host: is it civil? caller: yes, but i have been

watching this network for 40 years. i know who brian lam is. i think it's ridiculous because i don't watch this network are the anymore. i barely watch any news. it seems like when you count the callers and you start on the subject it's always more democrats. even though i'm an independent eileen republican. -- i lean republican. a lot of people don't understand. i would like to ask brian lamb some questions. people need to understand this network was unfiltered at one time 25, 30 years ago. it seems to be partisan towards the democrats. host: i hope you give us another chance and watch the program more often that you say you do. go to our website and look at everything we cover and do some research into c-span programming. you can download the free mobile

app c-span now and watch for yourself. go ahead with your question. caller: i wanted to ask, why will donald trump and harris not do a town hall? a non-scripted -- i'm sure she would never do that. i honestly think in a neutral site, say omaha, nebraska, or i don't know, somewhere. host: why did you call omaha neutral? caller: it probably isn't. i have not looked up the -- host: we will talk about omaha, nebraska. it's interesting he picked that city. to his point about a town hall? guest: it's very much in area and pla -- in play. the status safely going for a neutral site, regarding for trump.

there have been telling holes in the past, but there have always been networks, moderation. there has never been a sort of free-for-all. i think that is something possibly that trump would agree to, more freewheeling events, and is probably more skeptical of network moderation. my sense is that harris is not. i think she would like a more traditional network-moderated debate, but, you know, who knows? if they really believe that they would benefit from debating, trump, no matter what, trump clearly believes that about joe, than they might be open to them less -- to a less orthodox setting. host: tell our viewers can in case they've missed it, what is the latest? guest: well, there are only a

couple of states and the whole country that do not allocate their electoral votes by the state wide winner. everywhere else is winner takes all. maine and nebraska do it by congressional districts. it just so happens that while both states are fairly safe statewide, nebraska for trump, maine for harris, here is quite likely could win in the electoral vote in nebraska, which, if the race is close, trump has come in the last two elections, won due to a single electoral vote in maine and is favored to do so again. too late to change the rules in maine. there's still time to change the rules, winner take all come in nebraska. it does not seem like that is going to happen, because there's one key electoral defector who may have some ambitions in omaha. and, you know, there are some protests that it is too close to

the election to change the rule at this point, although these are the rules that the other 48 states follow. the race is close enough right now where things like this one electoral vote could matter. host: they could make a difference in a tie, 259-259. one congressional district in nebraska, breaks the time. guest: that is right. and, you know, that would probably favor trump at the moment, but we do not know what the composition of the house is going to look like come january, based. on current majority the number of delegations right now, 26, would hand it to trump. obviously with all of the election determined by a probably narrow majority in the house could be pretty tumultuous. host: lester in new jersey, a republican.

hi, lester. caller: hey, how are you doing? host: good morning. caller: i have a question for -- host: mr. antle. james antle. ok, we are going to move on to liz who is in new jersey, democratic caller. hi, liz. caller: good morning. regarding another debate, i believe kamala harris would be more than able to repeat her performance, but i think i'm up her, the emphasis was to go instead on the limited number of days she has before election to campaign. i would prefer that she ignore any debate opportunities.

her weakness with the male voters, let's say, it should be -- there are men who will not vote for any woman at any time in the united states. host: ok, liz, we will take your two points. james antle. guest: there is obviously big gender gaps in the polls. gender gaps are not unusual. but you have a lot of men, black and hispanic men, who are voting for trump, while you have a pretty big majority of women voting for harris. i think there was a gender gap even while biden was still in the race. it has gotten larger in some polls since harris entered. it's going to be, you know, one

of the things that decides this election. i don't think that harris has made the glass ceiling quite as big a focus of her campaign as hillary clinton do in 2016 -- did in 2016. she's trying to make these inroads with, you know, "the white dudes," "the rose," and there may be a self-consciousness of feeding into the gender gap. obviously as the race enters the home stretch, they will look at their numbers and the demographics that will be most likely to bring the election home to them, and i think women and i think the abortion issue will feature pretty prominently in that. host: when asked about debating, the former president has i, voting has already started in several states. guest: right. it's interesting because we have

had a lot of early voting, which was not the case in the past. i'll think you will see a huge number of swing and undecided voters voting early. i think most of these odors are pretty committed partisans. they know who they are voting for. but i think it is a valid point, a lot of what you are doing now can't really affect those votes. clearly there have been races in the past, the pennsylvania senate race in 2021 where having a certain number of early votes banked helps now senator john fetterman overcome what was at the time a widely panned debate performance, although it was due to medical conditions, which he has since improved, whereas people were skeptical biden would improve. but there is some validity to the idea that some number of those are banked, but there's still a lot to compete for before election day, and that is when a lot of voters will filter out. host: john in massachusetts,

independent. caller: hi, yeah. i wanted to agree with the caller from north carolina earlier, that there is a spin to c-span these days. even showing the white dudes for harris advertising, not the donald trump "i'm not with her" black women advertisement. but you are only showing the "white dudes," not typical white dudes, right? sits on that caller there were a bunch of liberal hollywood elites that sponsored harris, not really just white dudes but rich, liberal elites that c-span is working with and promoting to a national audience. i think you guys have a democratic spin. guest: i do think that is the risk of the ad strategy, that it could be seen as condescending and not really effective at

reaching out to the voters as intended. trump would like to improve his share of black women in this election cycle. the big area where they would like to improve our black and hispanic men. there are a number of polls that show black and hispanic men are tied with harris and trump. there's an expectation that the number will be higher in 2024. that may not sound like a lot, but that is quite a bit for republicans since the 1964 presidential election, when the black vote really went overwhelmingly democratic at the presidential level. host: and we played that add that the viewer was talking about when it was released by the trump campaign. paul in north carolina, democratic caller. you are next. caller: hi, i'm talking about the project 2025.

that is his document, because his name is in there over 300 times on that document, and i don't see how people don't believe it, you know? host: we will take your point. project 2025. guest: so the heritage foundation, pretty much every four years, since the 1980 election of ronald reagan, at least, has produced governing documents to help the future prepare. how much of these things get taken up by the administration can vary widely. it is not necessarily something produced, in this particular case, it is not something produced by the campaign, but i

obviously a lot of people who have been adjacent to trump in the past and would likely serve in a trump white house in some capacity in the future were involved in formulating it. i don't think it is, by itself, a governing template, but some of the ideas probably would be taken up by a trump administration. i think when you look at, there are a lot of people in the republican party that the first trump transition, when he was elected in 2016, went particularly well, so there has been a lot of effort by outside conservative groups, and within the trump campaign and trump's orbit, to be better prepared to hit the ground running, if trump wins in november. a big difference is, trump has led in a number of polls this cycle, so it would not be a dramatic shock for them to win the election. in 2016, it was a pretty major upset, so they were certainly a little bit behind the eight ball when it comes to preparations for taking office. i would suspect, 20 or not, that

would be less the case. host: on the front page this morning, the former president ahead in three key states across the sun belt, an egg in areas in 20 also inside the "new york times" this morning, harris' consensus win and the debate has barely move the needle. guest: right. it has not only moved -- biden's debate has not only move some people into the trunk:, but it has moved some states. i think she has some in play. these are not insurmountable, but they are certainly notable. one of the things about replacing fighting with harris is biden has seem to have fallen

out of contention in the sun belt state, solely in the rust belt and nebraska's second congressional district. that was his pass to the electoral college majority. putting arizona, georgia, north carolina, nevada back into contention, had a wider array of options for women's, but also it means she has more money, certainly more proven, more orthodox ground game. it would stretch from resources to compete across seven states rather than just three. so it is noteworthy that even after this debate where she got a lot of positive coverage has not really seemed to move the needle naturally come and the sun belt does look like it might be drifting a little bit back toward trump. host: also interesting, as you mentioned, the money come of this is from punch bowl news. vice president harris recently transferred $10 million from her

campaign to the d.c. sisi -- dccc. how much has trump given to the nrcc? not one red cent? guest: right here trump is outperforming most of the battleground senate candidates, but yes, harris has a lot of money, and she's in a position where she could maybe give some of that up. there's only so much as space you can really reserve, whereas the trump campaign, they have enough money to get their message out, they have enough money to do the things they need to do. they don't have a lot of money they can spare for the people. but they might be in a position where, how trump does could very well this i, k republican candidate win in ohio, pennsylvania, nevada?

host: could there be a reverse effect in north carolina with the news coming out of there and the republican governor? guest: sure, that is a very big split, but obviously if mark robinson falls very far behind, the republican governors association is not going to put any more money into that race. a lot of people are starting to un-indoors, disavow. robinson could reverse coattails. you notice in the "new york times"-siena college poll, north carolina was the closest of those sun belt states. caller: good morning. interesting conversation. first of all, i'm an independent. i refused to vote for trump twice, i refused to vote for hillary, and when biden took kamala on, i refused to vote

for him. biden has been, for years, senile. everybody in the power structure says no, he has sharpened attack. -- he is sharp as a tack. that was repeated. we have had basically a puppet for the last few years. then we have kamala, it was disliked vice president in history, she becomes the democratic darling. she is elected without any delegates. nobody likes this woman, and now she is the princess of the democratic party. they say, well,, and abortion. kamala cannot change abortion, so and she can get a constitutional convention or constitutional amendment to get it, that is it. the only reason i'm voting for trump as i've watched the democrats weaponize the judicial system against him, and that scares the hell out of me.

if you say you will save democracy by restoring it, i'm not going to vote for you. thank you very much. host: ok. guest: and number of things there. there are a number of voters who have been motivated by the legal charges against trump. it has not been the political liability that i think a of people expected, when the multiple indictments were handed down. there was a brief dip in the polls after the new york hush money conviction, but it did not last very long. it does not seem like it will be , barring any last-minute unforeseen events, does not seem like it will be a big issue now, other than perhaps motivation for some republicans to go to the polls. now this is a thing and that hush money case is not going to happen until after the election, so that takes another thing that could swing voters off the board, which is another reason i

think harris is so eager for another debate. host: has a candidate ever went three months without talking with the media, taking questions, or having a town hall? when will be democrat-controlled media turn on harris? guest: i mean, it is definitely unusual for lack of press access. it has improved a little bit since there's been more criticism of it, but not by historical standards. brief exchanges with the vice president press pool, you know, on the tarmac, getting on and off planes, you can get some information out of that. she's had come i think, two sit-down interview's now. jd vance has done something like 70. i could be off on that. i think trump has done 14. it is unusual. i think they are, you know,

biden was criticized for a basement candidacy. i don't think harris is quite there, because she is doing a lot of public events, but they are definitely trying to keep all of her appearances very scripted and have a lot of rigid, messaged discipline and not have afforded a lot of opportunities to go off of that. host: richard in missouri, democratic caller. caller: yeah. i was calling on the democrat line, because you hear a lot of dialing on party lines. anyhow, you know, kamala could be president tomorrow, if joe wanted her to be. and we have a senator from missouri that tried to overthrow the government. he should not be in elections, on account of the 14th amendment.

for trying to overthrow the government. people weren't really, you know, hillary talk to good about the national guard, but they are there when you need them. host: all right, richard. talk about come on election day, will we know the outcome of the presidential race? what is the likelihood we know the winner on election night? guest: you look at the polls right now come on averages, there has been more variety since harris replaced biden, but there has been more margin nationally and in the key battleground states, so there's a very good chance we won't know the winner. we might have some indications. now, this is sort of a choose your own election adventure right now based on the polls. the polls show here is the margin of error, but she does tend to lead in more polls than

trump does. so if the polls are roughly accurate, the likely outcome would be a slim parents win. -- parents win. the democrats outperformed their poll numbers, and donald trump outperformed his poll numbers in both presidential elections. so here is could sweep the battleground states and win by more than what the polls are currently suggesting. the opposite is also true. if you have the direction of 2016 2020, trump could win, and trump could, frankly, if if it is along the lines of 2016, he could sweep the battleground state and win by a lot. we didn't know come up with some question, but we did know that trump won by at least the next

morning in 2016, and that was a pretty narrow win. so it is certainly possible, with the amount of early voting that takes place now and the state rules for counting out, i think, if it is close on election day as it is now, it could take a while. host: let's go to caller: caller: robert them independent. good morning. this is robert calling from the fascist town in michigan. a lot of people were saying the election was rigged in 2020. why wasn't it rigged in 20? i mean, you know, the election process was the same in 2016 than what it was in 2020. trump has done a lot of damage to the country's psyche and the whole world come as far as i am concerned, with the rhetoric, as

far as blaming it on the jewish population and everything, right down to the ohio, springfield lies, a look at the trouble he is causing their. guest: i think with the possibility of a really close election, there are going to be all kinds of controversies regardless of who wins. trump has obviously been able to push these types of issues further than any previous candidate, but the fact is, other than barack obama's two elections them all of the elections since 2000, there has been some degree of effort to cast. doubt on the outcome nobody has pushed it as far as trump did, but certainly 2000, 2004, with

rfk junior, ironically, being the biggest proponent that john kerry won ohio, the russia gate aspect of the 2016 election, clinton has definitely expressed a lot of reservations about come although she did concede the election, and nobody attacked the capital, but she has cast varying degrees of doubt on the legitimacy of that election. anytime you have a really close race, the possibility of that exists. it could be a very rough, contentious, however many number of days until things are resolved. host: jamie in lancaster, virginia, republican. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i think vice president harris is missing the biggest things. henry lost for one reason, because the black women did not come out with enthusiasm for her.

and i've seen the same thing happened with vice president harris with the white women. i like to call it the caitlin clark effect is taking place. i do not see the enthusiasm in that demographic coming out for harris at all. i mean, it is not in the news. it is very quiet. the emily list usually comes out months in advance. even hillary clinton has not come out as much to campaign in that sense. host: all right. guest: yeah. i don't know how helpful hillary clinton will be. i believe she has endorsed harris. host: she was at the democratic and dimension. guest: she had a major speaking plot with her husband.

i think there's probably some effort to disentangle harris from things of the past, other than the democratic convention, when you are reaching a very democratic television audience. i think that is part of it. my sense is that, at least among the general democratic base, there's a lot more enthusiasm since harris has taken over as the nominee than when it was biden. there has been such a loss of hope among democrats, especially after the june 27 debate, but even really before that there was a lot of skepticism about biden's campaign strategy and a lot of concern about whether he had lost in terms of messaging and as a communicator and how effective could he be, particularly campaigning, not nursing a lead but a little bit behind. some of that seems to have gone away with harris commanded real

big question will be, is it enough? host: ohio, sheila, democratic caller. caller: yes, i want to talk to people who are undecided, and ask them, do you find it compelling that lifetime republicans and conservatives are coming out against trump? not only saying they will not vote for trump but they will vote for kamala harris? 800 national security people, generals, mike pence, john bolton, john kelly, paul ryan. and the independent has said trump will close down in a platform that criticizes him, just like they do in russia. you go to jail if you criticize putin. host: sheila, why do you think it would matter to independents, the endorsement of those folks that you listed? caller: well, because these are republicans who -- and trump is republican, and they are saying they will not vote for their own candidate!

why wouldn't independents care? guest: sure, the cheneyss are certainly interesting. this is new. dick cheney, the ranking member of the bush administration, endorsed donald trump in the 2016 election. host: outside washington, d.c., though, do independents care who dick cheney is going to vote for or anybody else? guest: it's highly questionable that republicans care. if you look at percentages of self prescribed republicans and who they are voting for, it is overwhelmingly donald trump. it is a blip on the radar, the percentage of republicans who are not going to vote for trump. it is also the case that, when you look at the elected officials, national security

officials, they have endorsed against trump in the past two presidential elections. other than the cheneys, it's not very new. i don't see it moving the needle. the harris campaign, i think to some degree, does have a different view. it may speak to their theory of who the swing voters are in the battleground states, and the reality is, again, if seven states decide the election, fewer than 100,000 voters swing the race one way or the other, it was 43,000 in the three states that swung it in 2020, you know, i don't think it's going to be very many people. host: what are you watching for this week on the campaign trail? guest: well, i will be interested to see, number one, does the harris campaign decided to do the southern border visit? and i think i'm also interested in, does the debate talk evolve

beyond, you know, trump is a chicken, donald duck, and things like that, to some serious effort to try to get him back on the debate stage again? i think it will somewhat speak to their theory of the race, if they seem more eager to get him to actually debate or whether they are content to have this be an issue that can be above the head rest. host: the former president has several campaign stops this week. they are slated as remarks on the economy, remarks on tax policy. guest: right. i think the trump campaign believes the economy is one of their biggest issues, the border being the other, that there's a public dissatisfaction with the state of the economy under biden and harris, they want to tie harris to the biden administration's record. they want to try to reassure voters who come in most polls, tend to favor him on the economy

, as they believe that the pre-pandemic trump economy was better than the current economy. they want to drive that message home. i think they believe that if that is the defining issue of this election, they will win it. host: what is the latest on the october 1 vice presidential debate? guest: so senator jd vance and minnesota governor tim walz are going to debate. as far as we know, that is the last debate of this election cycle. these two do not like each other very much. it should be pretty contentious. host: alright, james antle with the "washington examiner," you can find more of his reporting if you go to washingtonexaminer.com. thanks for the conversation. guest: thanks for having me. host: we will go to the house floor. they are about to gavel in this morning. thanks for watching live coverage here on c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

caption content and