an assassination attempts summer. saturday at 5:00 p.m.astern on c-span. then an encore presentation of the vice presidential debate between ohio senator vce and minnesota governor tim walz, 8:00 p.m. eaeron c-span, c-span now, and online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government, funded by these television companies and more, including mediacom. >> nearly 30 years ago, mediacom was founded by a powerful idea, to bring cutting edge broadband to underserved communities. our team broke speed barriers, delivering speed to every customer, developed a 10 g platform. now it is offering the fastest, most reliable network on the

globe. mediacom, decades of dedication, delivery. >> mediacom supports span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to deacy. >> coming up on "washington journal," your calls and comments live. then we will talk about the top news and campaign 2024 with julia manchester of the hill and natalie allison of politico. investigative journalist and founder of racket news matt taibbi be talks about what he considers to be the declining state of free speech in america. join the conversation on c-span's "washington journal" next. ♪ host: good morning. welcome to the "washington journal." this week in politics, president trump is calling the release of the special counsel's

filing on january 6 election interference. meanwhile, vice president harris campaigned for republican liz cheney in the birthplace of the gop. less than a month -- around the month to go to election day, we want to get your thoughts on campaign 2024. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. remember, you can also join us in a text with your first name, city, and state at (202) 748-8003. or on facebook.com/c-span or on x with handle @cspanwj. yesterday in rippon, wisconsin, the vice president campaign there for republican liz cheney. here is a little bit of ms.

cheney's remarks. [video clip] >> we must choose men and women who have what abraham lincoln called a sincere heart. our nation's second president, john adams, put it this way, on the first night he ever spent in the white house, he wrote a letter to his wife abigail. it included a prayer, a prayer that is so special president kennedy had it engraved in the mantelpiece in the state dining room in the white house. he said this, may none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof. now i am confident -- just a second -- [laughter] i am confident that john adams meant women, too. [cheers and applause]

in this election, a broad coalition has come together to support vice president kamala harris. we may disagree on some things, but we are bound together by the one thing that matters to us as americans more than any other, and that is our duty to our constitution and our belief in the miracle and blessing of this incredible nation. we have a shared commitment as americans to ensuring that future generations live in a nation where power is transferred peacefully, where our leaders are men and women of good faith, and where our public servants set aside partisan battles to do what is right for this country. so today, i ask all of you here

and everyone listening across this great country to join us. i ask you to meet this moment. i ask you to stand in truth, to reject the depraved cruelty of donald trump. and i ask you, instead, to help us elect kamala harris for president. [cheers and applause] host: liz cheney yesterday in wisconsin with the vice president. this is what vice president harris had to say about being there with liz cheney in her remarks. [video clip] vp harris: every endorsement matters, and this one matters a great deal, liz, and it carries a special significance. as you said, we might not ci to eye on every issue, and we are -- we may not see eye to eye on

every issue, and we will get back to a healthy two-party system, i am sure of that, and we will have a vigorous state. as you said, you may not have supported a democrat before, but as we have both said, be -- we both love our country and revere democratic ideas, and we believe in the nobility of public service. and we know that our oath to uphold the constitution of the united states of america is a sacred it must be honored and never violated. in your words today and the reason we are all here today really do underscore perhaps one of the most fundamental questions facing the american people in this election. who will obey that oath? who will abide by the oath, to

preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states of america? [applause] i have had the privilege -- [crowd chanting -- kamala] thank you, thank you, thank you. and i have sworn an oath to uphold the constitution six times in my career, including as vice president, as a united states senator, and as the top law enforcement officer of the largest state in our country. responsible for upholding and enforcing the laws of the state end of the united states was the work i did, and i have never wavered in upholding that oath. and i have always executed it faithfully and without reservation. [applause]

and therein lies the profound difference between donald trump and me. host: the vice president yesterday in wisconsin. cnn says she was there with liz cheney to campaign for gop and independent votes. this is how the former president responded to that campaign event on his truth social site, saying liz cheney lost her congressional seat by the largest margin and history of congress for a sitting representative, the people of wyoming are really smart, she is a low iq warhawk. because the republican party longer wants these two fools, they supported them.

liz harris suffering from trump derangement syndrome. mike in ohio, independent. go ahead. caller: good morning. listen, i gotta go with trump. this is ludicrous. if we would buy the constitution, those two would be locked up. we should be going by actions, not words, because we have nothing but words from the democrats for the last four years and look where we are at. we are almost into the sewer. another thing i cannot comprehend, and it infuriates me being a u.s. citizen is we're leaving people to die in this hurricane. we spent all this money on these illegals bringing them in, and wet, we are kicking our own people to the curb? what is wrong with us? we need a quick change in washington. if trump does not come in, there

will be a change. thank you. host: mike in ohio, independent, mentioning hurricane helene. what impact will that have on this election cycle? headline on washington post's money come at least 213 dead and many more missing as risk is continued -- the headline on the washington post this morning come at least 213 dead and many more missing. the president and former president have surveyed damage done. atlanta journal-constitution, it says, why trump and kimber joining forces after hurricane helene -- why trump and kemp are joining forces after hurricane helene. they will reunite for the first time since 2020 ahead of a hard-fought november election. he notes, it is not a campaign event. they will be surveying the damage done by hurricane helene. joy in alabama, democratic

caller. hi. caller: good morning. yeah, for the previous caller, i am so amazed how people do not see through trump's lies advance's li -- and vance's l ies. it amazes me he is allowed to go on propagating these lies. i guess there are a lot of lawsuits. i read an article from some journalist in north carolina that was commenting on trump's using the hurricane for his gain and saying fema is not doing their part. he said all of that is not true also, and he lives there in that area. i believe that fema and to the government is doing everything they can, but those things do not happen overnight. a lot of places are hard to get to.

and tie that into the democratic-republican, whatever, nomination anyway. host: you think you should be left out of politics? caller: i do. i think it is terrible to tie that in. they are suffering so much already, it is it ridiculous to tie that into all addicts. -- into politics. i think we need the democrats in. we need to go back to the years when politics was partisan -- or bipartisan, and people can get along and reach across the aisles. that will not happen under trump. host: campaign 2024 this morning on the "washington journal," talking about the latest from the campaign trail over the next two hours. former president donald trump on wednesday called special counsel jack smith, the release of his filing, election interference in an interview with newsnation. here he is. [video clip]

>> we know that special counsel jack smith has filed for a document on the aftermath of the 2020 election a private effort. can you respond to that? fmr. pres. trump: he is deranged. i call him deranged jack smith. he just lost the documents case, the biggest of them all and toughest. let me tell you, we just won it strongly and completely, a total victory in florida. and he is a person who is trying -- and he works for kamala and for joe. this was a weaponization of government, and that is why it was released 30 days before the election. and there is nothing new in there, by the way, nothing new. they rigged the election, not me. then they go around getting people and persecuting people and prosecuting people that did nothing wrong. they rigged the election. these are crooked people.

deranged jack smith is a prosecutor that was put there to screw up the election for the republican party. people know it. i know it. everybody knows it. and it is not going to happen. they should have never allowed the information to come before the public. but they did that because they want to hurt you in the election. so far, and you know we have had great victories, but what has happened so far is if you take a look at what they have done, the public does not buy it. the polling numbers have gone up instead of down. it is pure election interference to get an incompetent person like kamala, grossly incompetent, more than biden, to get these people elected. they are rodents. they get it. it has already come out, every single challenge calling it election interference. they rigged the election. the election was rigged. i did not rigged it. they did. host: the former president there on the release of jack smith's

filing. do you believe it is election interference? also making news, the former first lady, melania trump, backs access to abortion. she posted this video on x yesterday, signaling her support for abortion rights. [video clip] >> in vitro is a fundamental -- in vitro fertilization is fundamental, and all women deserve individual freedom. what does my body, my choice, really mean? ♪ host: melania trump on x yesterday. a column on the washington post, why is melania trump coming out now for abortion rights? what that her way to wink and nod at the idea that may be the

trump's did not believe in this stuff all along and that women who think abortion rates are important to feel comfortable voting for him? drum come after all, what's pronounced himself to be strongly pro-choice. your reaction this morning for that news in campaign 2024. eddie in massachusetts, republican. caller: hi, in the 1920's, president calvin coolidge said, do you think this is the government's business? that is why donald trump did so good. when he got into office in 2016, the growth rate was 1%, unemployment 6.5%. getting rid of bill clinton's nafta, which was sucking all of our jobs. my cousin lost his job when the ge plant closed in

massachusetts. but that is what you have got to do, got to get corporate tax down. so the administration got the growth rate up to 3% and unemployment down to 3.5%. that is why he did a good job, he is a businessman, and that is why he should be our next president again. host: that is why eddie is voting for the former president. we go to benny in michigan, independent. caller: good morning. i just want to speak to the people that are out there thinking about voting and who to vote for. remember who supports this ex- president, the kkk, the american nazi party, oath keepers, the proud boys. we cannot have a convicted felon leading our country. he cannot even vote in most states. this is america, and we have to vote for america and forget the

party. remember what you are voting for. thank you. host: democratic caller, kathleen in chicago. caller: thank you. please let me get these three things in. thank god this morning for joe biden when we woke up, because now we do not have to worry about having a shortage of tissue paper. ok, joe biden talked to the people yesterday, and now the strike is over. the person that has caused this was a trump supporter, and he was going to shut america down for god knows how long. thank you, joe biden. another thing, i keep hearing people talk about trump's economy. go back when president obama left office. gas was two dollars and something. trump did not have an economy, that was president obama's economy from 2009 until the pandemic. one more thing before you cut me off, the first caller talked

about people down in the hurricane being left to die, they are not leaving them today. that is a catastrophe. no man can clear what god does. trump let a million people die with the covid by lying and talking about drinking bleach and that will heal you. american people, think about trump. go back and remember. bullet up some of president obama's economy -- pull up some of president obama's economy, that was not donald trump. host: let's follow-up. front page of the wall street journal, dockworkers agree to go back to work after offer. u.s. dockworkers agree to return to work after port operators suite the offer, ending a three-day strike that to disrupt the american economy. front page of the wall street journal this morning. you also mentioned former

president obama, here's a headline on the abc news website, obama to blitz campaign trail for harris and the final weeks before election day, first up will be in pennsylvania, pittsburgh area, next week. go to c-span.org/campaign2024 for all of our campaign coverage. we are covering the presidential stops made by the vice president and former president across the country. we will cover these campaign rallies with the former president, president, and others. and we are covering house senate governors debates, the ones that are competitive and key to the balance of power this november. all of our campaign 2024 coverage can be found on our website, c-span.org. mike in washington, independent. hi, mike. mike in d.c., independent.

caller: hello, can you hear me? host: yes. caller: first of all, to the american people watching, do not let nobody fool you and try to tell you who you should and should not vote for. it is your constitutional right to vote for who you choose. it is up the candidate to get you to vote for them, not people to try bullying tactics that i hear on this radio station all the time, the left attacking the right. because of african-americans, i do not think anything will really change for black americans because i have not heard specifics for what any of these candidates are going to do for the black americans. same old thing you talk about. when it comes to reparations, i do not believe it will ever happen for our people. if they do not want to give us reparations, then what policies do you want to have to improve the lives of the black community ? in all these elections, the

black community is still at the bottom of the food chain. host: what will you do on election day then, if you still feel the way and 31 days? caller: first of all, i am going to register my vote. i feel like my ancestors fought hard enough for me to do that, but it would not be for any of these two parties. i am an independent, for that third-party rising, what a lot of independents want to say right now. c-span, how come y'all have not yet done any third-party presidential debates so the american people can hear these other third parties debate with each other? it is the same old game with democrats versus republicans, which are both owned by corporate america. how come you have not done any debates with the third parties, like with the rt network did? that is the one thing they did right, leading america say there are other people out there. why has c-span not in anything

like that? host: i encourage you to go to our website, c-span.org, because we did have jill stein here on the "washington journal," and they talked about things and took your questions and comments. we have covered events and their nomination contests. it is all on c-span.org. for programming today, i want to let you know that a day after melania trump, former first lady, signaled her support for abortion rights, the family research council is in washington, d.c., for their vote summit, a gathering of conservative christian activists and leaders discussing the upcoming 2024 election, education issues, and abortion. the family research council will be live starting at 10:15 a.m. eastern time right here on c-span. you can also watch on our free video mobile app c-span now or online at c-anrg. lar today, democratic

pridtial nominee kamala harris will speak to supporters atn event in flint, michigan. tch live starting at 5:40 p.m. eastern time on c-span, c-span now, or c-span.org. then the former president will be in north carolina, fayetteville, north carolina, for a town hall event scheduled at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. you can follow our coverage on c-span now, free video mobile app, or online at c-span.org. remember, the former president is going to be in butler, pennsylvania, tomorrow, saturday, the site of that attempted assassination. we will have live coverage of that right here on c-span, as well. let's go to vivian in tennessee, democratic caller. caller: good morning. how is everyone doing? host: morning. caller: i was calling, please, just a few things right quick.

number one, god in heaven but those two women together, the republican woman, ms. cheney, the democrat woman, ms. harris. god is showing people can get along. but we have hateful people out there being controlled by the devil. it is good and evil. trump is out there lying, saying it was stolen, the election, and even republican judges say it was not stolen. he is responsible for people diane, my brother one of them, with that covid. out there lying about it. and like that man said, he said you could just drink bleach. he is sucking up to putin, sucking up to him, and wants to be a dictator just like him. wake up, america. vote democrats -- both democrats, republicans, and independents. that man said up there with the

bible and lie. he was burning, hurry up to get off of there. host: to gary, i republican in idaho falls. host: hello. i do have a degree in economics. this is an economic issue on all matters. the constitution is the most glorious instrument that was ever written to outline the functions of government, because they realized it is imperative to limit the power of any government. too much power produces bad outcomes. so when the constitution was being written, part of it was the first true american economist, adam smith, and basically what he wrote was that

to leave businessmen alone to do their own things. today we call it, let businessmen have free enterprise . free enterprise -- trying to think of the word. host: i think we follow. salem in las vegas, independent. caller: hi, a lot of people forget that the first 10 amendments to the united states constitution is the bill of rights.the last gentleman that called is exactly right, those were put in place to limit the powers of the federal government. number 10, the powers not delegated to the federal government by the constitution nor prohibited to buy the states

are left up to the states or the people. now, that being said, if the abortion issue is completely blamed on donald trump for destroying roe v. wade, it was a violation of the 10th amendment back in the early 1970's, to cram it down everybody's throat on a federal level. when donald trump, let's say the supreme court, brought it back to litigation, the supreme court properly ruled we will allow the states to decide on an individual basis. case in point, income tax. that is why you have states like california and new york that have a state income tax. my state of nevada does not, because we have not voted for it. another thing real quick, if you don't want to get pregnant, do not engage in sexual activity.

if you do engage in sexual activity, there are other methods to prevent pregnancy. host: your thoughts on the former first lady saying she supports abortion rights? caller: i support a women's right to choose, too. but if she chooses to be sexually active -- so do men, both men and women choose who they are going to be sexually active with then when they are going to be sexually active, but to use as a birth control method when there are methods out there that can alleviate the problem -- if you do not want to get a dui, you do not go to the bar entering. host: understood. jd vance says trump won the 2020 election. this came up this week on tuesday during the vice presidential debate when he was asked by the moderators if the former president won in 2020, and then he was asked following

that debate at a campaign stop. won't answer if he will concede if opponent wins more votes. a comedian was asking about who actually won in a clip on x posted thursday. we shared the clip from france's -- advance's 2022 senate win. look at the video. [video clip] >> who one the 2020 election? did donald trump win? >> yes. >> so will you concede -- if your opponent gets more votes, will you concede? i just want to know, if you're opponent gets more votes, will you concede? host: from 2022, when senator jd

vance was running for that senate seats, that is the video posted yesterday that went viral. this morning, your thoughts on campaign 2024. rick in idaho, republican. caller:caller: top of the mornio you. some points i would like to bring to your attention. the media attention on trump right now is nothing more than deception. it is manipulating the media that puts everybody's minds in doubt. i would elect sarah palin for president. three, on abortion, ladies, 50 years, let women of america decide what abortion is or isn't. keep the men out of it. roe v. wade was an all-male decision.

greta, you fit the profile. take charge. thank you for your hospitality. when i become the secretary of transportation, i will cut the debt by $16 trillion. you won't even know i'm doing it. host: bill in washington bill, new york. republican -- washingtonville, new york. republican. caller: black and brown people, caribbean people, should not vote for donald trump. donald trump spent millions of dollars to get black men in central to be executed. another thing he said, the shit hole countries. he separated his standing that hispanic children from their families. -- he separated hispanic

children from their families. as a black man in good conscience. i will not vote for donald trump the way he disparages people of color and talks nastiness about us. if black and brandman book for donald trump -- brown men are voting for donald trump, we deserve exactly what he's saying about us. we need to have respect for ourselves. host: we are going to your latest thoughts on campaign 2024. this week in politics -- there's a little over a month ago before election day. let's hear from kirk in duncanville, pennsylvania. democratic caller. caller: good morning. i am a retired high school teacher. i taught civics. i used to say when trump was running in 2016 he could not have passed my civics class

because he did know how the government works. i am shocked and dismayed at the number of americans who support this guy. people who say he's a businessman. he is a failed businessman. let many businesses have gone under. he went bankrupt six times. i'm sorry. that is not being a smart businessman. that is a dumb businessman. he's a big baby. only a criminal wants immunity. it no history -- and the history of our country no president sought immunity from the supreme court until donald trump because he is a crook. he is a liar. he lies. he lies all the time. documented over 30,000 provable lies. 40 of his 44 cabinet people are not supporting him. look at the number of republicans, including the cheney's who are not supporting this guy. he is a danger to our country.

he is on american. if you support him, you are unamerican. don't believe what he says. it is not true. host: we heard your point. i want to follow-up on something you said about former officials during the trump administration. harris-walz released a campaign ad yesterday quoting these former officials who claim mr. trump is not fit for office. [video] >> in 2016, donald trump said he would choose only the best people to work in his white house. now that people have a warning for america. trump is not fit to be president again. here is his vice president. >> anyone who puts themselves of the constitution should never be president of the united states. i cannot in good conscience endorse donald trump this year. >> is defense secretary. >> do you think trump can be trusted with the nation secretive again? >> no.

irresponsible action places our nation's security at risk. >> 's national security advisor. >> donald trump cause a lot of damage. the only thing he cares about is donald trump. >> and the nation's seismic and military officer. >> we don't take an oath to a king or queen or tyrant or dictator. we don't take it oath to a wannabe dictator. >> take it from the people who do invest. donald trump is too bigger risk for america. >> i am kamala harris and i approve this message. host: the latest campaign ad by the harris-walz campaign. we are talking about this week in politics. campaign 2024. getting your thoughts on what is happening in the latest on the campaign trail. yesterday the former president was in michigan. here is what he had to say to the crowd about his opponent. [video] >> not qualified to be the president. she can't answer a question. she doesn't do interviews.

even the radical left liberal lunatics, some of which are there -- i know some of the very well. you have to be tested. you have to be tested. he's not going to do anymore. they will never speak to the press again, which maybe that is ok. early voting is beginning in a couple of days. you must get out and vote. we want a landslide that is too big to rig. [cheers] on november 5, we will save our economy. we will rescue our middle-class. we will reclaim our sovereignty. we will reclaim our sovereignty and restore our borders once and for all. we will put always -- we will put america first. [cheers] we will take back our country.

together we will make america powerful again. wealthy again. healthy again. strong again. proud again. safe again. we will make america great again. we are going to make it so great. god bless you, michigan. god bless you. host: the former president in michigan yesterday at a campaign rally. you can find all this campaign coverage on our website at c-span.org. we are getting your thoughts on the election this year. john in massachusetts, independent. caller: thanks for the propaganda for the democrats everyday. you keep pushing russian collusion, the dossier, a dictator on day one, bloodbath. how come you never push back on that?

you guys like the fact-check republicans. kamala light 36 times during his debate. you guys keep letting your getting away with it. she just keep saying i was born in a middle-class family. you guys need to push back the other way. you keep saying donald trump killed the border bill. who killed hr 2? biden said he would not sign it so i guess he killed it. schumer wouldn't bring it up. you guys love resist, resist, resist when it is republicans in charge. when it is you would charge, it's all against america and everything. have some impartiality. you never do. you look like you're going to throw up right now because you cannot stand to hear the truth. trump had a better economy. obama did crap for eight years and at the end he try to get the economy back. now they talk about building a portable. a vanity project. now it is not a vanity project.

not fracking or the power we need. you guys are being absolutely ridiculous. you are all partisan. we read from the washington post and the new york times. what about the new york post? you don't read from the republican sides for conservative ones. -- or conservative one. host: anna in north carolina, republican. caller: good morning, greta. a couple of points. i wanted -- i'm from north carolina. we have family up in the mountains of north carolina and tennessee. the -- fema. they don't have any money. they are broke because of giving all this money to the illegals and their housing and food and clothing. we have had people that have

gone up there to give donations, bring food, water and everything. fema is confiscating it and not letting people distribute it. i don't think that's fair. i don't think that we need to be giving all her money to all these illegals coming in. i hate it for them but i'm hearing about their food vouchers and ebt cards. thousands of dollars on it. i think we need to get that changed. host: there are stories that say that trump's lies about the hurricane response or getting where ridges. he accused the biden administration of stealing fema funds to fund undocumented migrants. they say that is false and there are other headlines as well. caller: actually, biden said there wasn't anymore money.

so did mayorkas. i personally have friends that are volunteering and that is happening. they are not letting them distribute stuff. i think that is heartbreaking. we have to vote for donald trump. we need to get our economy squared away to support american citizens. we have to take care of ourselves. we have to take care of america. host: this is fox news. fema has funds needed for immediate response and recovery despite mayorkas's warning. he said thursday the federal emergency management agency has the funds needed for immediate response and recovery in the wake of hurricane helene, even as the secretary warned divided potential lack of money. this is fema's spokesperson. she has the full authority to spend against the president's

budget but we are out of hurricane season -- we are not out of hurricane season yet so we need to keep a close eye on it. they lifted immediate needs funding that allows agencies to focus on urgent efforts and pause nonurgent projects. that is from fox news. steve in port st. lucie, florida. independent. caller: hi greta. i think you do a great job. please say hello to pedro. i think he really did a good job the other day what that guy from the washington times. the point is the chaney's made a lot of money off those wars. in working for halliburton and everything. they made about half of billion dollars. they are the richest people in wyoming. they are deathly afraid of shutting down these wars,

because they make a lot of money off of it. i'm serious. think about it. all this money going to ukraine and now people are arguing about whether we've got money for this hurricane that came through. that is dumb. i don't care what party you are from. that is might independence. i'm a chemical engineer. that virus was definitely made in the lab. nobody wants to talk about that, greta. i want to buy the northern part of mexico for the united states. this is the boldest idea you have ever heard. $100 trillion. that is what i'm willing to pay for it. create four states. we are shutting down those cartels. host: tucson, arizona. tom, democratic caller. your thoughts on campaign 2024. caller: good morning. i put a little -- the word of

looking for is blame on the news media for some of the stuff that goes on in politics. i have been a printer for 50 years. four years ago, giuliani got on television and claimed there was thousands and thousands and thousands of counterfeit ballots. i know what it takes to do printing your ballots. i have never seen one ballot that has been presented to the american people. these people make all these accusations. they have nothing to back it up with. you go into a court of law and

you tell somebody they have done something, you have got to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt you are right and they are wrong. nobody has ever come up with a counterfeit ballot in all this malarkey that goes on and the lies that are told. i know what it takes to print these ballots. host: front page of the new york times. if you have read the filing by jack smith that was released this week, the new york times digs into person one to 71. wider list of conspirators. if you are wondering who the person nine is, among the characters was eric hirschman, a lawyer who had not met mr. trump -- who had met mr. trump is -- his childhood friend

jared kushner. he started working the white house as an assistant to the president in august of 2020. during the chaotic weeks after mr. trump -- he goes on to report -- mr. hirschman offered the unvarnished truth about the claims of fraud mr. trump and his allies were advancing. among his duties was updating the president on a nearly daily basis about the campaign's efforts to support the fraud allegations. as the brief says, mr. hirschman, whose name appears unredacted but slightly misspelled at one point in the document, was aware the two outside consulting firms had looked at and debunked most of the claims. at one point he warned mr. trump if you brought them into court they would get slaughtered because they were "all bullshit." that is from the new york times

digging into this filing that was released by jack smith of who p1 through p71 is if you were curious and spent some time reading it. adam in florida, republican. caller: you had a caller who was bringing up the point of he feels your station is more left supporting then right. i have only been listening for the last year and a half every morning. i think you are fairly close to presenting in the middle. i have been thinking lately the same thing to the points he was bringing up. everything i hear is always against trump and how trump looks bad. there is never any coverage of all the things that the right side says kamala is bad for.

from her time as it is to the attorney and so forth. i just retired a year and a half ago. 20 years in the service. i never voted the entire time i was in the service. i always played a political. i'm here to keep america safe and the works. integrity was my favorite thing about the military service. that was until 2020i decided to find the register and vote, because it was interesting to see a non-politician political person actually run for the president. the fact that before covid, and you could talk about where it came from, either way it happened, he did an amazing job keeping us out of countries and putting america first. my 20 years of service was america first, keeping a safe. -- us safe. i think i would like to see you put the same pressure on kamala

and her past and her statements and her facts. every day is always what trump did wrong. one thing i heard yesterday -- i forget the guy who was on the show. he said we don't fact-check on the show but if you look up this name and this website and this and that i think you will find what you are looking for. it was going to be more bad information on trump. you guys don't fact-check but he provided every piece of information on the show to go find out what that caller was talking about. that is what i have to say. i've been a listener for a year and a half. started off in the middle. it is both -- host: you said that. we appreciate the feedback so thank you for saying what he

said. while liz cheney was campaigning with the vice president kamala harris and voicing her support again for the vice president, nikki haley was in washington at georgetown institute yesterday. georgetown university yesterday. this is what she had to say about her support for former president donald trump. [video] >> you remarked, "in politics, the herd mentality is enormously strong. a lot of republican politicians have surrendered to it. many who now publicly embraced trump privately dread him. they know what a disaster he has been and will continue to be for our party but are too afraid to say it out loud." now that you have suspended your campaign you have frugally downplayed his impact on your party and even gone so far as to offer yourself as a surrogate for his campaign. would it be fair to categorize you as one of the many politicians who privately dread him, who know what a disaster he has been and will continue to be for your party, and are you just

too afraid to say it out loud? [applause] >> thank you for that question, matt. [laughter] what i have said since the election, since what happened, i said everything i said on the campaign trail. i stand by. i said it because i believe it. i was telling the truth to everyone. since then, people have voted. i'm a boater now. -- voter now. it is harris or it is trump. i don't have the luxury of dealing with anything else. i am not going for the person i like. i'm going for when my daughter complains about groceries. i care about that. when my sonny's word about getting a job and have -- son

is worried about getting a job, i worry about that. preventing wars. i care about that. when i look at was happening on the border and safety, i care about that. as a voter i align more with trump's policies then harris's policies. i'm not voting on style. i'm voting on substance. i as a voter have to make the same decision you do. that is the decision i make, but i have always stood by every thing i said. at the end of the day i'm an american and i have the right to choose who i will vote for. that is what i'm doing. the republican party has chosen. host: nikki haley at georgetown university yesterday. we covered her remarks there. you can find them on c-span.org. pennsylvania. don, democratic caller. your thoughts on campaign 2024? caller: thank you.

i want to refer back to a caller from massachusetts. i want to apologize for him for the way he talked to you. that was very rude and uncalled for. i believe that trump has -- into the american fiber. one of the top campaign things for his trying to get elected is to break us apart. the reason i was calling initially was the fact that on two cases. if you listen to the clip you did of trump when they asked about the election interference, he keeps on repeating the same thing. election interference was them, them, them. he said numerous times on news interviews that he said if you

keep on repeating something people eventually will believe you. if you listen to him, that is what he causally does. he constantly does that. the fact that with election interference from 2020, the fact that -- why isn't the fact that any other candidate that won or lost claim election interference? it is only the president. it seems kind of impossible that only one of the persons on the ticket was interfered with, not everyone else. that is all i have to say. host: in philadelphia, tom is watching there. an independent. caller: a couple of points.

the first was election 2020 dispute over possibly fraud, inconsistencies, etc.. i don't understand why you have to go through a whole court process, why there is not something in place where they can do an audit just so everybody is happy on both sides. i don't know what there's not a place where thing to be checked out if things are questioned. every election has been questioned. we all know that. i don't know why even the democrats, they keep saying trump is blaming the election fraud, this and that. why they wouldn't just say let's do an investigation improve this once and for all. it has become a constant bickering thing. why not get to the bottom of it?

it is a little late now but i'm saying going back they should have probably just all come together and looked into it. host: understood. irene from littleton, colorado. democratic caller. caller: is it my turn? host: it is your turn. caller: first, thank you again for the fasciatti. he was belligerent with you and you handled it well. the caller that called about the fema money going to immigration and you corrected her, that was great. i'm glad you did that. she didn't have anything to say. i will say thank you for her. second, the spin room -- third. the spin room. there was a college student that straightened out the vice president's role. that is not to make decisions.

i keep hearing on the campaign trail camel ahead -- kamala had three years to do it. she didn't have the authority. trump said he lost by a whisker. if those trump supporters believe he won, trump admitted he lost. go back and do your research, trump supporters. fasciatti has called three times this month and he was cut off. you have done a great job. host: telly in north carolina. -- kelly in north carolyn. caller: thank you for taking my call. a few points to make and they will be quick. as far as the republicans that

were in his administration that are not going for him now, first off, if you get fired, you are going to be met. second, how much does it take to pay you off to switch against somebody when you are already mad? also, as far as it goes and everybody saying trump lies. trump lies. well, let me explain this to you. if you disagree with anything that a democrat says, that is considered a lie. you are not allowed to have a different opinion. ok? the other thing is the media is turned into a state media, including fox. they are against each other to divide us. host: kelly, i will talk to marty.

one last call in the first hour. newport news, virginia. democratic caller. we will continue with campaign 2024 but marty, go ahead. caller: thanks for letting me talk. i have two falsehoods the republicans are always bringing up that i'm pointing out. one is trump had no wars in his administration. -- when his administration was going on. there has always been wars going on around the world. probably 20 going on right now. the wars right now are going on between different countries. i'm talking about wars the united states is involved in. host: ok. caller: the score for that is right now zero provide and one

for trump on that score. host: you don't think the u.s. is involved in what's going on with israel and gaza? caller: there are no boots on the ground. there are no american soldiers dying. these are two other countries fighting, the same way with russia and, you know, ok? host: i have to leave it there because we are going to take a short break. we will continue talking about campaign 2024 and joined by national political reporters julia manchester of the hill and natalie allison of politico. later, investigator journalist matt taibbi founder of racket news discusses he considers to be the declining state of free speech in america. stay with us. ♪

>> as the 2024 presidential campaign continues american history tv presents its series historic presidential elections. learn about the pivotal issues of different eras, uncover what made elections historic, and explore their lasting impact on the nation. saturday. the election of 1932. >> the restoration of jobs, recovery of agricultural prices. >> i pledge myself to a new deal for the american people. >> at the height of the great depression democratic new york governor frank and roosevelt unseated incumbent republican president herbert hoover in a landslide victory. watch historic presidential elections saturdays at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span2.

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>> book tv, every sunday on c-span2 teachers leading authors discussing nonfiction books. beginning at 2:00 p.m. eastern, book tv prisons coverage of this year's mississippi book festival. highlights include journalist garrett graff's oral history of normandy invasn. a former it help quarterback brett favre and the mississippi welfare scandal. followed by jonathan ige and robert samuels on the bayou of martin luther king jr. and george floyd. at 9:00 eastern, historian tammy troy talks about the relationship and power dynamic between titans of industry and u.s. presidents going back to the late 19th century in his book, "the power of money." 10:00 p.m. eastern on afterwards, yell university professor timothy snyder argues

freedom is often misinterpreted and offers his thought on what freedom is and isn't. he's interviewed by george washington university clinical science professor and author elizabeth anchor. watch book tv every sunday on c-span2. find a full schedule on your program gui or watch online anytime at booktv.org. >> washington journal continues. host: campaign 2024 is what we will continue to talk about in the washington journal in the next hour. joining us for the conversation is julia manchester of the hill newspaper, national political reporter, and natalie allison, national political reporter with politico. we will start with the release of jack smith's filing by the judge in this case. what new details have emerged that if putting a spotlight on

the former president's role in january 6? guest: a lot of the details that came out underscore what we knew before. probably adds a bit more color to it, such as trump's relationship with the vice presidtence. the idea he didn't have any regard for his safety and also the narrative that president trump knew the fall selection claims were in default but went along in pushing this ahead. it's interesting to see have republicans and democrats have responded to this. republicans predictably are pointing out this is just over a month out, the release of the details of month out from the election saying this is politically timed, this is the biden-harris administration or the doj trying to politicize the case. democrats very much addressing get but at the same time get it -- looking at it through the political lens. they are not zeroing in on it and trying to keep it at arms

length. i don't think this is something voters are necessarily paying that close attention to. it is something they are aware of. something some voters care about but not on the list of kitchen table issues like the economy, immigration that typically decide elections. host: cnn says this is not an issue that is high in polling of what people care about. guest: that's right. it is something liz cheney tried to address last night. she said a lot of people say we have moved on from january 6. she issued a warning that this isn't something we can become numb to. that will be the challenge in the final stretch of the election where the harris campaign estimate people suddenly care more about this. they have watched the january 6 congressional hearings. they have seen so many news stories about this over the last four years, to the point where

sometimes on the campaign trail reporters in washington would be accused of caring too much about january 6. no one outside the beltway cares about this. that is the feeling among some people. as you noted, the polling shows that. it is going to be a challenge for the harris campaign at this point to make that an issue that people vote on if they are still undecided at this point. host: what are people saying they care about? what is going to drive them to the polls and who they vote for? guest: it is the economy and immigration. that's consistently a number one and number two issue throughout the election. those are two issues that really show people are caring about the pocketbook and the quality of life. the republican party has tried to tie the immigration issue to

crime and drug problems people may have been seeing in their communities. they've had some degree of success doing that. harris is trying to make immigration an issue that she can go on the offense on. i think she's having more success with that than president biden did. those are the two uses people care about. something like january 6 is not of the top of people's minds when they wake up in the morning and think about what they need from their government. host: the former president -- i'm speaking of former president obama is set to hit the campaign trail. where is he going to go and why? guest: battleground pennsylvania to campaign for vice president kamala harris. we have seen evidence of this throughout the past number of years since he was president. president obama's argued lead the most popular democrat on the political scene. he got a rockstar reption along with former first

lady michelle obama at the d. michelle might have gotten more of our rockstar reception then he did what he carries a lot of water for democrats. this is something that will galvanize not only the democratic base but could play a role with maybe appealing to this undecided voters. he still a very popular former president. he is playing a big role. another thing we reported earlier today, he's endorsed powell in florida's senate race. the norsemen is not surprising. barack obama wants to see democrats have control of the senate. it kind of goes along with this strategy of democrats or the narrative they are turning their national attention towards florida. last week the democratic senatorial campaign committee released a multilane dollar ad buy in florida and texas, red leaning states. i would be skeptical whether democrats would split florida.

they seem to think there is some opportunity there. the fact you have obama making this public senate endorsement following the announcement he's going to campaign in pennsylvania is striking. host: political pundits have noted in previous cycles in 2022 democrats did not play in florida. is that white is interesting this time around? guest: i think so. you are seeing the revamped, credit party infrastructure in -- democratic party infrastructure in florida. in 2022, there was criticism of how it was run on the democratic side. you have republicans really dominating in terms of voter registration. the state, particularly post-covid, post ron desantis's handling of covid, it leaned right. at the same time you are seeing what you are seeing in the rest of the sunbelt. more migration not only from -- it is not just conservatives or

republicans but you see a younger, more diverse population moving to florida. i would not put florida in the same category as georgia or north carolina. i don't think florida is firmly a swing state again. they see the opportunity. host: natalie allison, democrats are hoping abortion is an issue they can win on. the former first plays -- former first lady melania trump posted her thoughts in support of abortion rights. what is the strategy here? guest: it is striking. it left a lot of republicans asking that question. what is the strategy? former president trump spoke to that yesterday on the campaign trail. he was asked about it. did you know that your wife was going to be saying this? he said yes. i told her to go from her heart and write what she believes and he moved on from the conversation. they left a number of antiabortion leaders, social

conservative leaders online asking the question of why would she do this a month before the election. the social conservative right has had a fraught relationship with trump with regards to his abortion views. certainly in the republican primary he was reluctant to embrace any kind of federal restrictions and is still maintaining that position. he threw them a bone when he said he would vote against the abortion referendum in florida to expand abortion access. overall, there has been a question of are the antiabortion voters, but people who are really energized by the issue turnup for trump? yes, they will but they are collectively rolling their eyes at some of the comments he's made through his truth social post saying that he would kill a federal ban. they get agitated when he goes out of his way to say it. they took melania trump's

comments about advocating for abortion rights in spite. that is something people move on from. the harris campaign tried to make this an issue yesterday. they said it is very sad for mrs. trump and women in america that donald trump does not see i die with her on this issue -- eye to eye with her on this issue. host: the christian activists and leaders of the family research council are gathering today in washington for their vote summit. we will have coverage starting at 10:15 a.m. eastern time. the family research council talking about election 2024 and the issue of abortion with other issues. you can watch it here on c-span and c-span now or online at c-span.org. in case anybody missed it, i want to show the former first lady had to say in her x post.

[video] >> individual freedom is a front of the principal i safeguard. without a doubt there is no room for compromise when it comes to these essential rights that all women possess from birth. individual freedom. what does my body, my choice really mean? ♪ host: julia, your thoughts on her posting of that at this time right now? guest: it is pretty remarkable that it comes after you saw -- obviously, she with her for this but it comes after you saw earlier this week senator jd vance and donald trump try to somewhat soften their stance on abortion. at the vice presidential debate jd vance said republicans have to regain the trust of the american people on the issue. noting that republicans have not

had great messaging on this issue post roe v. wade. they need to have this unified stance. during the debate donald trump tweeted he would absolutely veto a national abortion ban. we have gotten mixed goes on that. overall, all this put together shows republicans are nervous about this issue. i think the economy still remains a top issue. what we saw in 2022, even though that was a different year, voters were considering abortion and reproductive health very much an economic issue. the issue of starting a family and marrying those issues together. you saw democrats masterfully campaign on that. last year, across the river in virginia during this off year elections. democrats trying to find that republicans trying to find their footing on this -- republicans trying to find their footing in this.

there's a lot of other issues at play. it is a presidential election. a different turnup but it is still concerning for them. host: where are democrats nervous? what are the vulnerabilities? guest: back to the main issues, economy and immigration, trump has led on those. harris has made of ground over where president biden was but those of the issues republicans have had the advantage on. people said they trust trump more on the economy than they do biden and harris. because harris is trying to put some distance between herself and president biden by being in his administration she's having a bit more success with that. trump still has the advantage on those things. trump has the advantage on a lot of issues despite in many cases polling behind harris nationally enveloped onstage. it is interesting -- in battleground states. it is an interesting clash between what they care about, who they trust and who they will vote for.

it is not like all hope is lost for harris because trump is dominating on many issues. that is certainly how it has been for her and something she seems to be making progress on. i guess she has a few more weeks to do that. host: julia manchester, the firefighters union says they will not endorse. does that hurt kamala harris? guest: i don't think it helps her. we see both campaigns have spun the lack of endorsements as victories in a way. within parts of the union movement there is a divide. it shows donald trump has made inroads to appealing to various union members. i'm not saying these issues are necessarily related but i thought it was striking how the biden-harris administration handled the strike this week with the ports and the dockworkers. i was talking to republicans and democrats. there seems to be a lot of questions as to why biden did

not get involved sooner given he has such pull with unions. in general, it seems the union movement, their relationship with democrats, there's a lot of questions there. guest: two national political reporters at her table. julia manchester of the hill and natalie allison of politico. sean in pennsylvania, independent. caller: hello. host: good morning. a question or comment on 2024? caller: just a comment. i think america is in deep trouble. we don't have anybody really representing regular americans. all they keep talking about is abortion. immigration. they are not talking about none of the other issues. how all these things come about is from greed. corporate greed and politicians

playing around and playing golf and going to the places with all these corporate leaders. we ain't going to get nothing. host: who are you going to vote for them? caller: i don't know. i'm undecided. they had eight years with bush -- with obama. both could have did something nobody will do. they were supposed to make rules. all that do is take laws, make them, that another party comes in and changes them. they never codify them. they want people to keep getting angry about it. they are never going to fix it. host: wedge issues and dealing with what she says, corporate greed. she sounds like maybe a bernie sanders supporter. she could have been. why aren't these candidates -- the first of the former president ran he had a populist

message. sometimes similar to bernie sanders. why are the candidates talking more about those types of issues? guest: i think trump still has this populist brand. if you go to a trump rally, that is what he is trying to channel. that is what the people in the audience far and away working-class blue-collar people who probably are getting paid to take the day off and be at his rally. we are seeing that. the challenge is that trump is a richmond and has been his whole life. it is hard for people to see this man with a lot of wealth who says he's for the working people and maybe his record on unions despite trying to court the labor movement this time around is not great. we see someone like kamala harris who tried to channel her own less than wealthy upbringing, saying she worked at mcdonald's and she was raised by

single mother and things like that. it is probably hard for people to square that with someone who is successful and well educated. we have seen over and over some of these outsider candidates in the last few years. a lot on the republican side who don't have any training in politics or experience. i'm thinking mark robinson. someone who comes in on this trump populist wave but not in politics who doesn't fully know how any of it works. everything blows up when they run for office because they don't know what they're doing. that is the challenge of having people come and who are just a normal everyday working-class person. i don't know how many of those people will actually get elected to office. unfortunately for the caller. host: bruce springsteen endorse yesterday. his appeal is the middle class worker. guest: definitely. we have seen kamala harris try

to sort of not necessarily -- she has talked about raising taxes on corporations. talked about price gouging. i would say her delivery -- her language and how she approaches the issue, it is not in the populace form you hear from bernie sanders and the progressive wing or even donald trump. at the end of the day both of these candidates, as hard as trump tries to brand himself as someone who is someone for the everyman, they are both elite. they are financial and political elites in this country. it is important to point that out. host: we are taking your questions and concerns, your phone calls, your thoughts this morning on the campaign. bruce springsteen endorse the vice president and video. i want to show you what he had to say. [video] >> i'm supporting kamala harris for president and tim walz for vice president.

here is what. we are shortly coming upon one of the most consequential elections in our nations history. perhaps not since the civil war has this great country been as politically, spiritually and emotionally divided as it does at this moment. it doesn't have to be this way. the common values, the shared stories that make us a great and united nation are waiting to be rediscovered and retold once again. i'm supporting kamala harris. host: bruce springsteen without endorsement of the vice president. kyle in buffalo, new york. republican caller. caller: good morning. i was actually going to talk i what she was talking about, about how we need to start addressing some of the other issues that concerns americans other than abortion and immigration.

host: what would you say are those other issues, kyle? caller: i was thinking about the economy. some of the things we are looking at. the debt ceiling. we are about to go to $40 trillion. inflation has gone down from a report this morning. we have a lot of consumerism, especially with this whole shipping crisis with the dockworkers and stuff like that. i think our local areas, our local politicians, it is up to them to take care of it. it seems like we always harp or during this election week harp on the border. it has to be bigger than that. republicans used to be the party of limited government. i give kudos to the first lady

for coming out with what she said. it should be left up to the individual. i'm tired of our every election of how that seems to be the main point, abortion, the economy and people's personal finances. host: i want to make sure you understand that the dockworkers have agreed to go back to work after an offer. this broke yesterday. i wanted to update you on that news front. i want to take what kyle was saying, natalie allison. he is talking about wedge issues. why do campaigns use wedge issues? guest: it's interesting. he has a point that maybe abortion and immigration are not the top issues for him. later we did hear him talk about the government staying out of abortion rights. ultimately, the democrats are using that messaging because i know it does resonate with some

people. -- they know it does resonate with some people. they will not spend millions of dollars focusing on issues they don't think are going to move people. sometimes they realized that messaging isn't going to work. they have data that shows some of the electorate they need care about these issues. the economy and immigration over and over and over over this election cycle. the last election cycle too in the midterm. people are complaining about the cost of living. they have seen relief in some aspects but that is the narrative of biden's president as told by republicans. they have major expenses. your quality of life has gone down, the cost of living has gone up. that is an issue they keep harping on because it is one that seems to resonate with people. host: julia manchester.

guest: with the issues of abortion and immigration, these are base issues. they while up -- rile up the sides. besides from being base issues, they have the ability to sway undecided voters. we have seen that poll after poll showing behind the economy these are still top issues. it is interesting to see both campaigns weave them into other issues. how abortion is an economic issue. how immigration is impacting economics as well. if you hear that on the campaign trial but a bit. host: in in tina -- tina in pennsylvania, independent. caller: i would like to make a couple of points. abortion should not even be a factor in a presidential election. for years women have fought for it to go back to the state level. it is there.

leave it alone. put it at the bottom of the list. immigration. yeah, it needs to be there, especially with what was announced yesterday which i very upset over. the fema money that has been spent on illegal immigrants while we have americans who are dying, who are starving. they lost everything. america came second. we need to remember she didn't get a vote. she is the sitting vp. she could be doing some things now. host: i will take that last point on immigration and the fema story. either one of you jump in here. there are reports that is false. i see it on conservative websites saying fema funding was taking for illegal immigrants and you see it on other websites that it is false. guest: it seems like the caller

is consuming a lot of conservative media. those are stories that are cycling in the conservative media ecosystem no. -- right now. they can argue that if the country is spending money on any foreign -- they can say it's not been spent on american citizens. that is an argument that could be made but i think there has been quite a bit of misinformation with regards to hurricane helene and fema's response. i'm from north carolina and i'm seeing 70 poster people claiming fema is not there. they are not helping us. they are too busy helping illegal immigrants and that is just not true. they are on the ground. they could be doing more. i do think anyone will be fully happy with any government agency. there's an argument about is that the most efficient way to get these resources to people? we see private groups who are

probably on the ground before the government was. that's an argument conservatives are making. it is just not true that fema is not helping these people in the disaster zone. there are billions of dollars, go to that. congress -- billions of dollars that will go to that. congress just re-upped and they will be more there. i do think that is an issue that the government is very aware of these people are not being all forgotten -- being forgotten. if i could go back to the issue of abortion being in the states. in florida, they are deciding whether to enshrine abortion rights into the constitution. like it or not, that plays into presidential politics.

part of it could be the fact that there is a six week abortion ban in that state and that is why you see president trump for a while the same six weeks is not enough time but then came out to enshrine it into the state. even though it is a state issue, it is playing out in presidential politics. host: going back to north carolina, only 30 days left before the election. could the storm have an impact on turnout in north carolina? guest: yes, it could. it is a question of which could be more affected by it. talking to people on the ground, they still haven't gone through much of the destruction and don't know how bad it is in some parts. they don't know if open voting will start on time. and for people who work on the campaigns, it is difficult and hard to move on to how are we

going to vote when there are so many people missing and unaccounted for and you don't know if some of your loved ones are going to be found. that is sort of the position in my sense in talking to people on the ground is they are in the let's wait and see his and not hurrying for certain doorknocking in the disaster zone. host: voting is not a priority right now. guest: it does not. but next week could be a different story and maybe more people will be accounted for but at this point it remains to be seen. the impacted area is largely more republican. there are two democratic heavy cities in their. asheville is known as a blue of. democrats could be affected as well. we don't know who could be hurt

more but this could have impact. host: catherine, new jersey, democratic caller. caller: good morning. i am saturated with ads in information and by now i know i am going to vote for kamala harris. i will be glad when it is over. i will call you next month after. host: foot as are you seeing, the presidential or senate? caller: most of the presidential race because here in new jersey, we know who we are going to vote for. i would love to see kamala win and i would like to see a lady in the white house before my time is done. host: minneapolis, independent.

caller: i would just like to, my number one reason for calling is that i think that donald trump, and i voted for donald trump in 2016, and i thought he would clean out the swamp. it turns out his money and i would like to say right now on national tv that i think he is a benedict arnold and should have been brought up for treason and i think it should be the number one overall thing people talk about. we can always straighten out the economy and we can deal with the abortion one way or the other the way people want but when you are talking about the democracy of the country, known in the history of this country has ever tried to overthrow the government on the weight donald trump is. and thank god for mike pence. host: ted, it was an

independent. voted for donald trump and seemed to highlight the voters that voted for trump than in have switched back. guest: certainly remarkable. there was an expectation from a lot of trump supporters and 2016 that it would be a change in washington and then donald trump arrived and it wasn't that easy. it takes a lot to fix the system. host: kathleen in los angeles, a republican. caller: i was going to speak about immigration and how it is inter-related and interconnected with the economy. mass immigration, and it -- illegal immigrants have been affecting the black economy

since the 1800s and i discuss that on my panel show that i gave in the data is more important than rhetoric. most people just call in and discuss rhetoric and not data. i know the data on how mass immigration and illegal immigrants have affected black america. why are trump supporters supporting trump? because we realize the system, the establishment does not have the interest of america or americans. this is why we support trump. we don't just watch tv and don't just read the new york times of the washington post, we read other outlets in other publications and we read the epic times and just the news and there is so much more information out there and it

seems like most of the callers only listen to tv. watching tv, getting your is for the television is only establishment news and the establishment doesn't have the interest of us, the american people. host: i want to take your point. guest: she is saying the former president is the antiestablishment candidate. the way he speaks about immigration fuels to she is in black voters as well. i have covered it to the course of the campaign and i remember him going to a roundtable in detroit this summer and that is where they were talking about this issue of illegal immigrants taking the jobs of african-americans and the paris administration had posted fun about those comments.

we just have the caller making a similar point saying the african-american community is being negatively affected and that message is resonating with some black voters and what trump was trying to do. i don't know if it is having the effect he thought it was. he was improving with the voters in the black and hispanic communities. at least the message from trump is resonating from some of those voters. callers who aren't in love with with the democratic party are saying that. host: latest jobs numbers are out. u.s. hiring surpassing expectations, the labor market bounce back in september adding 254,000 jobs, signed that

economic remains. guest: it was good news for kamala harris and she can talk about how it happened under the biotin-here's administration good we have seen talk about the job growth under the administration and i will take the note that she has closed the gap with donald trump in the polling on this but employment impacting americans getting the job, inflation seems to be what they are feeling the most when they go to grocery stores for goods and that is what is impacting them every day in a different way than the jobs reports and we see that play out in polling. we will see them tout that but i think immigration needs to be the top concern. host: nate in milwaukee, democratic caller. caller: i was going to point out

a couple of things. and i haven't seen the epic times and found myself not testing it at all. but going back to the actual data, and don't forget when trump ran for president eight years ago, he promised to get rid of the national debt and gives people something that was supposed to be better cheaper and cover more than obamacare. and instead he added more to the national debt and he still doesn't have something better than obamacare. in 2020, he was playing around with giving california aid after the wild fires and in contrast

obama is in florida in north carolina and states regardless if they voted for him or not to try to provide health and dispute fema aid. so with trump you have more of a question of will he play politics or will he try to help people and i am one of the u.s. citizens that trump tried to prevent my ballot from being counted in 2020. so i can say he tried to not just steal the election as a whole but as one of the 200 thousand from wisconsin whose votes he did not want to cast, he try to take away my rights as a u.s. citizen. host: natalie allison. guest: i thought it was interesting the caller referred to trump's difficult time articulating on health care and it certainly came up at the

debate with vice president harris and it continued to resonate in the concept of the plan to overhaul health care in the country and it is something we haven't gotten a clear answer on him from. he was certainly for repealing the affordable care act at one point and then sort of waffled on with the overall health care plan would be. so it is difficult to say that obamacare was a complete failure and not have a clear answer on where to go. host: the atlanta journal-constitution headlines come here is why donald trump in the georgia governor our meeting after hurricane helene. they were surveying damage today. why is this headline and the two of them together? guest: we know brian kemp and donald trump have a history of a rocky relationship going back to 2021 brian kemp certified the

presidential election votes, something donald trump took very personally. and up until a few months ago, i remember it donald trump was at a rally in georgia really trashing brian kemp and then we saw may be some cooling on that and then we saw brian kemp go on fox news and praise donald trump and some pleasantries exchanged but we saw brian kemp praise president biden and his response to the hurricane. at the end of the day, this is personal and donald trump realizes is to have this state in brian kemp wants it to stay a red state. it is always awkward when you are not the sitting president during a campaign trail because it is inherently political and it is important that he does

that with brian kemp. guest: is the first time they will be together in four years. donald trump has spent most of the last years trashing the governor whose polling shows popular in the state. he won over some democrats and donald trump try to push a republican challenger in the last of the neutral primary and pretty got destroyed in the and trump continue to trash brian kemp even after he saw that brian kemp appeared to be more popular than him in georgia. as the election became increasingly tidy after paris took over the democratic ticket, trump realized it probably wasn't going to be effective to go on bashing the republican governor of that state. host: this week began with the vice presidential debate, the one and only of this campaign. i want to show you a new ad

highlighting one part of the debate with the running mate of the former president, jd vance, senator from ohio asked about the former president losing in 2020. [video clip] >> it is rich for them to say donald trump is a threat to democracy. >> did he lose the 2020 election? >> i am focused on the future. >> america, you have a clear choice of who will honor the democracy and who will honor donald trump. host: we were talking about how this issue doesn't highlight spending money on an ad like that. guest: we all the reviews after the debate show that events up until that moment had a good night seemed more comfortable

and polished on stage then tim walz and then came the question and it seemed to be the throwaway for democrats. it plays into the messaging of saying chaos is under donald trump and we are running for keeping normalcy and they are also making protecting democracy a huge part of the issue and that is where this is coming from. host: we will follow that up with governor tim walz and his performance. here he is after he had pushed back after not answering a question about travel to china. [video clip] >> the question was, can you explain it? >> i got there this summer and misspoke on this. i will just -- that is what i have said. i was in hong kong and china during the democracy protests in from that i learned a lot of what needed to be in governance.

host: natalie allison, one called it not having an answer ready for that question. guest: that was where i had the flash back to the june debate where we were all watching and cringing about how is this happening on stage and how is biden seemingly so ill-prepared in that moment with tim walz when he was trying to explain, not really explaining anything the discrepancy of him saying he was in tiananmen square and he actually wasn't. he started off with the answer talking about growing up in a working class family and things he would like to do as a child. he was trying to put in this biographical moment. it was very cringing. he wasn't answering the question and seemed not to have an answer

ready and i can't imagine he didn't have that and he seemed to totally blank at that moment. it was not a great moment for governor walz. host: beverly in florida, republican. caller: i was coming in because nobody has mentioned about why president trump had asked for a recount in 2020. they seem to forget that nancy pelosi had sent out over a million illegal ballots and nobody knows where they went. i didn't see one, did you? host: where did you get that story. caller: that story was on the news right after the 2020 election and they even saw in georgia cap showed on tv that there was an election area that they had called in and said there was a broken water pipe

and in the area. host: which news site? caller: i think that was a be see if i'm not mistaken. host: in the story about the speaker, where did you get that from? caller: i forget which one it was but after they said they were saying about the nancy pelosi ballots which i never saw one. host: i will leave it at that. guest: i was familiar with that story and sometimes you can come across stories on the line from god knows where and that doesn't mean they are true and something to keep an eye out for and try to verify what news you are taking in. that is a whole conversation for another day. host: mike in sarasota, florida,

independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to respond to a couple of callers earlier in the morning papers was the woman who set abortion shouldn't be considered in the presidential debates because women have wanted it to go back to the states. i disagree with that. abortion should not be a problem for presidential debates because the president doesn't make the laws, the congress does. if you care about abortion one way or another you should consider that not in your presidential vote but in your congress vote. there have been multiple times in the last 50 years when one party held the presidency and majority in both houses and they still never made the rule on abortion. and the reason is they just want it to be a wedge issue that drives the people to argue and spend billions of dollars during the election cycle.

i think that is the primary reason. host: i am going to leave it at that because i want to pick up what you were talking about just about power heading into november. how is it looking. who might control the chambers? guest: it looks like in the senate the republicans have an edge. republicans polling better there. and then you do here democrats talking about looking for texas and florida. i still think the chances of them flipping that seat, anything can happen but it would be an uphill climb. in the house it is more of a tossup. i have seen some scenarios where it is more favored to the republican majority but democrats polling since harris came the nominee, we have seen

democratic house candidates feeling better and a lot of democrats moving in the red to blue program and their seems to be more optimism on the democratic side. guest: i think this idea that it is an issue for congress and as for the president, some republicans tried to make that in the primary, thinking about nikki haley who try to avoid answering her position on the issue at a federal level because she said it is an issue for congress and there haven't been the republican votes needed to pass a ban in the senate for decades and decades and that didn't stop the democrats from keeping the argument going in for the republicans to have to answer to that. just think it is not going to stick and they will have to continue to answer for abortion policy even passed by the party at the state level. guest: it was president's

supreme court appointments that played a big role in overturning roe v. wade. host: what areas could make the difference in the house majority this november? where should people be watching? guest: for a while people were thinking the majority of the house could run through florida and new york in a few areas of swing states. that may be less now but certainly it only comes down to and full in some cases. it is the kind of thing. there will be so many races around that people will be voting in. we are just seeing the number of competitive districts close. there are places in iowa you could argue it is going to be competitive but it is not going to come down to that but new york is a place that a lot of people are eyeing. there are races that have not

had as much coverage in our of interest and you could see stories coming out about the congressman from new york with the black face. there are those that come up during the election and could swing and show how hard opposition is trying in that case. host: part of our coverage includes showing you debates happening in the key competitive house district races and senate races and gubernatorial races. you can find the debate coverage on our website, c-span.org. checking, point pleasant beach new jersey, democratic caller. caller: wanted to speak to how i feel that trump has been ignoring vertical issues regarding ukraine is addition.

i think that is truly important for american to know his points in terms that he this work. there are resources the entire country regarding climate change initiatives and fracturing. in partnerships formed prior to the invasion extract those natural resources and the eu, u.s. and ukraine. needs to take position on whether he thinks this is an energy war and whose side he is on. host: let's hear from ed pleasant valley, new york, republican. caller: a couple of things. number one, schumer, who is the new york state senator, stood at the podium not too long ago and said, trump is messing with the

wrong people, the fbi, cia and they have more ways than one to get him. the government is out of control. we have election interference going on right now in the biggest thing trump didn't do in 2016, he should have had hillary clinton investigated and he should have followed through and never did anything on her. she spent money on a fake dossier and the dnc got find hundred thousand dollars which is peanuts and she tried to disrupt the election back in 2016 and truck has been under the gun since the day he announced he was going to run for president. and the county where i live is being invaded. and new york state, don't care what the mayor says, he knows darn well they have been flying illegals into the airports since

the biden administration. i have friends who work into airports. come in at 2:00 in the morning, all kinds of limousines pull up and they pick them up and disappear. one airport they stopped because the media caught them but they are still flying them in but who is paying for that? host: we will hear from john in new york, independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. i used to watch c-span when you had the round table and had somebody that would represent both political parties. this is very biased for these two women both represent liberal media outlets, the hill and politico. they are the ones that review class -- riprap -- repressed the hunter light -- hunter biden laptop story and i will challenge both of them to prove me wrong.

for the past hour we have listened to nothing but degrading donald trump and they degraded the people that support donald trump that make up 50% of the population. they will give you every reason why to not support donald trump. i don't want to jeopardize their jobs their news media outlets but please say something positive that donald trump has done and why 50% of the country are supporting him. would you do that please. i know it is going to be hard. host: natalie allison, you have been given what you hear from different sources in on the ground and what the polls are saying. about why there is support for the former president. guest: respectively, i disagree with the caller on what he thinks either of our political leanings are or about our outlets. i think there are arguments for

what republicans are doing and saying and why and noting that some of the polities sees -- policy seem to be resonating and i would certainly disagree with the takeaways he has. host: let's end on your thoughts on what you are watching for into the weekend and next week in the closing days. guest: i am obviously watching for the top of the week has been october surprises in since the first week and we are seeing an escalating situation in the middle east and the court strike which has obviously ended. hurricane helene and the impacts of that spear definitely watching for anything more that pops up. in also she mentioned some of the dumps that we hear toward the end of the cycle. but in chatting with other reporters, it seems like this

election cycle and it is been very different in the presidential cycle but it seems like there hasn't been as much campaigning. it is certainly busy still but seems with the two assassination attempts on the former president and the kamala harris rush, that has changed things. guest: i am certainly watching out for what saturday will be like with the trump return to the campaign trail. interested to see if it is state do over of the rally of him being shot and it was a stunning moment for the-- a lot of peopln from that and it's not even something that trump is talking about right now. he says the chart on immigration statistics saved his life. by and large, people aren't

discussing it. it is saturday going to be like any other trump rally? certainly, if you are on the ground i'm sure that there will be a massive presence and it will feel like that. i do wonder how much of the news cycle it will take up, when he does this rally do over this ekd. host: we will have live coverage of tharay in butler, pennsylvania, 5 p.m. eastern time on c-span. you can also watch on our free mobile video app, c-span now, or online julia manchester at c-span.org. julia manchester, natalie allison thank you for the conversation this morning. we are going to take a break. later on, investigative journalist matt taibbi joins us, founder of racket news joins us to discuss what he thinks is the declining state of free speech in america. but first, when we come back, open forum. any public policy thoughts on

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welcome back. you can talk about politics and public policy. u.s. job creation totals 254,000 in september, much better than expected. that is from cnbc, the latest job numbers coming out of the government this morning. kimberly in suffolk, virginia, republican caller. kimberly, open forum, what is on your mind? caller: i want to make a comment about what the lady just said about fema. you talked about the source that people are getting information from. go to the dhs.gov website, there was an article released june 12 in 2023. today the department of homeland security through the federal emergency management agency, fema, and u.s. customs and border protection, will publish a funding notice under the new shelter in services program for more than $290 million to 34

nonfederal agencies. so, what i wanted to say about that was, of course, to go to the eligible expenditures for migrants. my point is, money absolutely was given to migrants under fema. if we had not had immigration that was absolutely intentional by our government, that money would not have had to have been given to the immigrant crisis. it would have been available for americans for natural disasters as it was originally intended. a couple of other things. hillary clinton called president trump and illegitimate president. stacey abrams denied she lost her election. governor walz has said that there's a pattern of lying. his composure is lacking for

someone running for vice president. i don't think that anyone would disagree when they see him speak. he has also said, and this should be alarming to all americans, one man's socialism is another man's neighborliness. for people who love freedom and understand -- here's one thing, i'm glad that matt taibbi is coming on, he's going to talk about censorship and that is the number one element of a free society and we are seeing censorship by the left of conservative and christian viewpoints. i want to tell christians to stand up, we are perfect and the time is now. host: on the newsweek website, fema response accusations of money spent on migrants. newsweek reports that the federal emergency management agency has responded to what they say are false claims that money being sent -- spent on a meat -- spent on illegal migrants should be being spent in the aftermath of hurricane helene.

it goes on to say that the government agency has a page to address these rumors regarding their response to hurricane helene, which hit numerous east coast states, addressing claims that fema doesn't have enough money in the aftermath, the page reads "fema has enough money for response to recovery needs and if you were affected by helene, don't hesitate to apply as there is a variety of help available for different needs. caller: mayorkas came on and said, mayorkas said that fema doesn't have enough money, they won't be able to make it through the season. when you hear people being interviewed in their own words saying that they have not had those personal experiences, you can't discount what those personal experiences are. the help is not there.

host: you can go to newsweek.com and read this as well, "these claims are completely false," secretary mayorkas said, "fema has the immediate resources needed to meet the needs of those suffering from hurricane helene and other disasters. ross, west point, ross? caller: i got a simple thought. what would it be like in american politics if the politicians were not paid at all? you don't walk in with money, you don't walk out with money. and you pay the election workers. these are hard working volunteering americans. give them a small amount of dough. the idea is taken money -- take the money out of politics. i think i would have a huge unifying effect across the board . i also think that american

politicians should only be the real, real young. i'm talking about from 19 down to 13. i know that's a crazy thought, but 19 to 13 and only females. check it out. host: crystal river, florida, independent caller, good morning. caller: thank you for having me on. it's been concerning and disgruntled into me, as an individual and believer, our lord and savior christ jesus, our dollar bills, any number that you put on the dollar bill, five, etc., has in god we trust. but everything is always honored and emphasized on except god. god is never really emphasized in politics. he's never emphasized in worship. host: what about separation of

church and state? caller: i believe that politics has no parts to play in church and vice versa, to some degree, but if it wasn't for the church, this state, this nation, these cities, etc., we wouldn't be expanding, because we all originated from our creator. he's the one who created everything and we came into existence. so, we don't honor him how we should. host: ok. i will leave it there and let you know that the family research council is gathering in washington for their vote summit. we will have coverage of that, live here today on c-span starting at 10:15 eastern time. you can watch it on our free mobile app, c-span now. conservative christian activists and leaders discussing the upcoming 2024 election.

also a part of our campaign coverage, the vice president who will be in flint, michigan today, speaking to supporters at 5:40 p.m. eastern time on c-span, c-an now, and c-span.org. you can catch the former president in north carolina speaking to supporters at a town hall event and you can watch that online at c-span.org or our free veo mobile app. we will have live coverage o his rally in butler, pennsylvania tomorrow at 5 p.m. easter time on television, on c-span online at c-span.org, and are apt, c-span now. john in howard, ohio, republican, john. caller: hi. i just wanted to respond. we always have this discussion about whether the election was rigged or not. seems like that's a big democratic talking point.

i've always failed to understand why there isn't a follow-up about the fact that the media, for example the, the laptop was said to be untrue, russian misinformation. we know now that google has manipulated, to some degree, and also facebook. so, the election was rigged. not necessarily the vote count, but the election was rigged from the taking of the, you know, the public's view, the public's speaking. it was facebook, google, whoever else, whatever other spot you listen to, they are confusing the whole issue. host: all right, john. john, republican caller there. the governor of georgia, brian kemp, who has been critical of the president, the former president, critical of him, they

will be together today touring the damage done by hurricane helene and according to cnn, they will talk to the press as well today. then there was this campaign headline, barack obama plans to blitz on the campaign trail for harris in the final weeks before election day. he will be in pennsylvania and in the pittsburgh area next week. look for our coverage of that on c-span.org. kathleen, ohio. caller: thank you for asking an earlier caller about their sources. i hope i get as much time as kimberly and the guy from florida. anyway, in regard to one question i have, tariffs and how we go here on either side, looking on the left or the progressives who really aren't always that way about tariffs, you know, and why biden and

harris cut trumps tariffs. i'd love you to address that on your program. on this issue of israel and palestine, i'm hoping to be able to ask matt taibbi about this with censorship, he knows as well as anyone else watching that the left and the right have mostly guests in support of israel. we don't hear pro-palestinian, palestinian-american israel -- americans coming on your program. regarding iran, we'll need to be more informed about the history of nonproliferation with regards to israel refusing to sign the nonproliferation treaty and iran, iran signing it. i heard andrea mitchell yesterday referred to iran because nuclear weapons as if they existed. that's never been proven. there, again regarding sources, you guys need to have scott ritter on to talk about iran, as

well as flint and hillary [indiscernible] who work for mercy analysts. the right and the left need to be more fair and accurate about the israel palestine issue in the issue of the palestinians in gaza, which has dropped off the map. so, i hope you guys have more palestinians on and have more experts on about the situation with iran. host: kathleen, thank you for the suggestion. darrell, caldwell, idaho, independent. caller: good morning, greta. the situation i look at, my friend is 20 years old, he could care less. i have another friend was 55. he's got an attitude towards donald trump that equals everybody else's attitude against donald trump. but in reality, nobody mentions the 600,000 possible dead ukrainians and possible who knows how many other dead in

gaza, reaching 41,000. the people that tried to get afghanistan, we were going to get away from that, 13 more dead americans. vietnam, 50 8000 dead. millions of vietnamese dead. personally, i missed the vietnam war, i got out, even though i got a stint for four months i got out because i was only a corporal. i look at the whole world on a status of who is in charge of the world going to pieces and it looks to me like right now nobody is worried about old mr. biden. he basically got, hello, biden, i'm 81 and there's nowhere in the world -- no way in the world i would run for political, i would embarrass the nation. host: i will go on to bryce, also in idaho, a republican. caller: i had a little bit to say, not going to take a lot of

time. 2020 elections, everyone thinking it's rigged, well, it could've been, it couldn't have, but i think if they want to find out, now that, there's a guide down there named clyburn, jim clyburn, congressional down here. i think they ought to check out what him and mr. diddy combs, in jail right now, the election being fixed, their relationship and what they know. if i'm right, back in 2000 when the democrats were having their big party there to see who they were going to put in to run, i did see diddy combs with his arms around hillary clinton, you know? so, there's a feeling i've always had. host: ok, i'm going to go on to michelle, democratic caller. caller: i wanted to respond to a

few callers about how they say kamala harris and tim hall's -- tim walz do nothing but lie. sorry, ex president trump has done nothing but lie. that has been proven. he's been lying about the election since 2020. that was not rigged. republicans just keep getting on board with this guy, no matter the lies. they need to fact check these people that are calling in. those people need to do their research. if you look at things under fact check, trump, even jd vance have been caught in a lot of lies. jd vance even said on national tv that the reason he does that is to get media attention. so, there you go. host: all right, nancy is next, florida, republican, open forum,

what is on your mind? caller: good morning, greta, how are you doing today? host: morning. caller: i want to thank you for your coverage on the debate. i watched c-span the whole time and you did a great job. my comment was this surprising law that california has banning id to vote. while the congress is trying to pass the safe act. that's all. have a good day. host: nancy, florida, thank you for calling in this morning. we are taking a break and when we come back, we will be joined by investigative journalist matt taibbi from racket news to talk about censorship and free speech in america. will be right back. ♪ >> the c-span bookshelf podcast feed makes it easy to discover

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latest episodes of "washington journal," and through scheduling on c-span networks and c-span radio in a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. scan it for a download today or visit our website, c-span org /c-span now. your front row seat to washington, anytime, anywhere. >> >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now is matt taibbi, investigator reporter, here to talk about free speech in america. i want to start with an event that you were at here recently in washington called rescue the republic. in your remarks you said that you were invited to talk about the risks to the first amendment, but to spare the suspense, that battle is lost, state censorship is a fact in most of the west. explain.

>> earlier this year the european union instituted the digital services act, requiring all platforms to submit to the judgments of state appointed censors called trusted flaggers. this is the model that most western states around the world want to introduce. australia has introduced a similar law called the a cma. the candidate has a series of laws, some that have already been passed, some that are on the way, like a log called the online arms act that could involve prior restraint. there could be people put in jail for even the potential to commit hate speech crimes. in the united states, i worked on a story called the twitter files, which revealed basically that there is a very organized system of communication between enforcement agencies like the

fbi and dhs, office of the director of national intelligence, and platforms like twitter, facebook, and google. they are doing essentially the same thing as the european law, sort of asking the platforms to take things down. if done informally, the only difference is we haven't had a law passed in the united states. i think we are headed in the direction of a kind of regulated form of speech and away from the american tradition of the first amendment. host: why not try to address misinformation and propaganda from foreign countries like russia and iran, trying to interfere in our elections? why not have these agencies speaking to these platforms to say that needs to be taken down because it is interfering with democracy? caller: two big -- guest: two big reasons, the state, number one, should absolutely exercise the right to address the bully

pulpit and address the public and say look, the stuff from overseas is incorrect, you should trust us, this is the white house, the dhs, whatever. but they cannot or shouldn't do is secretly address these platforms over which they have a significant amount of leverage through laws like section 230, which provides significant subsidies to these companies, and say that we would like you to take things down. that is not always just for an or interference, it's often true information. the first amendment was designed specifically to prevent a situation where the government precludes true information coming up from the public. we saw that in covid. we had journalists who were banned for saying things like the virus, the vaccine doesn't prevent transmission or

infection, which was absolutely true. we cannot have that situation. also, i would say it's totally un-american for the government to be deciding what we can and cannot handle. the first amendment assumes we are all grown-ups and that we can handle different kinds of speech. no one believes that they are susceptible to foreign disinformation. they all think that someone else will be manipulated and the problem of instituting those laws is you are giving someone the power to decide what is true in what is not and that is extremely dangerous. having lived in several countries, i know that that is a precursor to the elimination of a lot of civil liberties. host: do you think that x, formerly twitter, facebook, instagram, should be held accountable for what is posted on their site? caller: by a government agency?

no. look, i'm a journalist and i was raised in the system where we had a litigation based system for regulating speech. if you lie about somebody and it is damaging to them, you go to court and they sue you. they have to prove the damage and they have to prove the lie. that was a very effective system that worked for a long time. it probably has to be adjusted a bit for the digital age, but we certainly cannot have a situation where there is a government truth squad deciding what is correct and what is not. first, that gives the state too much power. secondly, they are almost always incorrect about whole ranges of things. the system we previously had worked better and this thing is very dangerous that we are flirting with, now. host: "the wall street journal" called rescue the republic a testament to the axis of weird assembling to support the trump

candidacy, across partisan friends united by little more than conspiratorial contrarian is him." how do contrarian is him -- contrarianism." how do you respond? guest: i didn't say anything about trump and my speech. this is increasingly applied online, guilt through association. they didn't criticize me specifically, they wanted to say that anything i said was conspiratorial -- conspiratorial and i'm a journalist, i have been working for 35 years. i don't misuse facts. if they want to criticize something i said, they are welcome to go ahead. if they want to criticize me because i shared a stage with some other people, i reject that. i am totally comfortable that there are people's country with whom i don't exactly share a point of view, that is the whole

point. we don't have to impose a point of view on everybody. host: you addressed it a little bit there, but how do you respond that by being there, you are showing that you are on one side or the other. pro-trump side. would you care to explain your politics, or do you think you don't need to? guest: i don't think i need to. my speech was about the first amendment and risks to free speech. i've been very outspoken that the current administration has demonstrated an astonishing lack of understanding and sympathy for free speech values. walz in the debate saying that hate speech is not constitutionally protected. he brought up fire in a crowded theater and it says it is a supreme court test. he is misquoting a 1919 supreme court case, one of the cardinal

mistakes that first year law students make. we have had john kerry just last week in a meeting with the world economic forum saying that the force -- the first amendment was a major block by efforts to leaders to hammer disinformation out of existence and it is hard to build concession -- consensus and democracies do not move fast enough. if you think the bill of rights is an impediment to leadership you have a misguided view. that is all i am saying. host: explain a little bit more why you called the misquote, yelling fire in a public hitter? guest: yelling fire in a public theater is a dictum. oliver wendell holmes in that case brought it up as an example as an argument to uphold the conviction of socialist antiwar activists who were distributing

leaflets that inform people of their rights and did not incite people. they said the -- that you have the right to petition for redress of grievances. he was comparing the distribution of leaflets that were peaceful and not inciting and today would clearly be considered legal speech to shouting fire in a crowded theater which led to the creation of the clear and present danger to standard which led to the worst abuses of power in our country in the 20th century. it was repealed in 1969. so shouting thought -- fire in a crowded theater was never law. and it was only what they call a nonbinding argument that was part of a 1919 case overturned in 1969 in brandenburg v. ohio. that has never been part of speech law. host: bob in tyler, texas.

republican. caller: i have another supreme court project. wednesday morning i was at the texas supreme court attending a state commission on judicial conduct. and then the head of the committee, a justice steele said that nobody could record. i was there to present texas law 551.023 where any public mirroring including court hearings are open to recording, and video recording. and any time the speech you want to say. if you could look on youtube. and the the judge saying that and a few tatian's to his oath of office. he is suppressing our speech when we have a lot to keep it open and public places.

guest: i will definitely take a look. that sounds interesting. host: eddie in wichita, kansas. democratic caller. caller: good morning. the best way for me to ask my question is to refer back to the previous episode. i think she was the first lady who called in and she had numerous debunked conspiracies that she was sharing. and you checked her. and you fact-check her in real time. do you hear me now? host: we are listening. yes. caller: ok. i guess my question is going to be in the form of a statement. in the previous episode there was a lady that called in and you fact-check her in real time and basically on air debunked some misinformation. so i guess my question would be are there -- host: we got your question.

you have your television on and you have to me of that. eddie is saying can you fact-check in real time online on these platforms? guest: no. and this whole new industry of fact checking is suspicious. we used to call what we did in journalism fact checking. we would never put things out that we could be sued or that were missed informative. and this whole new industry of ngo's that do fact checking or organizations like poynter or poltifact, sometimes you have to look at nine doubt who is funding the organizations. they often have deeply politicized biases worked into them. it is not that they will

erroneous and how they fact-check certain information, they will overlook misinformation on the others, right? and that is what you have to be careful of. they end up with a highly slanted view. there is a problem with how the plat forms were. i saw this in the twitter files sometimes they will not amplify content instead of correcting it and you get this idea that some people are -- some ideas are more popular than others as they get toggled up and down and i think that is dangerous. i prefer the open marketplace of ideas where people can see what is popular and is not. host: how would you know that these companies are not doing it? they are privately owned. guest: for instance, the washington examiner and i did

some of this reporting as well, found out that the global engagement center was funding a group called the global disinformation index which is a u.k. based industry that scores media organizations according to risk and safety which means some of them are up ranked by advertisers ends up being down rank. i am politically liberal but the top 10 agencies that they decided were too sensational were all conservative groups or libertarians like these in. and the top 10 for trustworthiness were the " atlantic" and npr. as a result you have the state pick financial winners in the media business by causing some of these organizations to be down ranked for advertisers. i do not think they work that way.

advertisers should be more interested in who is popular and who is reaching audiences as opposed to the judgment of some state-sponsored organization based overseas is saying about these groups. host: explain how you think it should work. guest: i think we should have media organizations that you can trust. if you get things wrong audiences will depart. why do we think mainstream media outlets are losing audience at a big rate and why do we think there going to plaisance like joe rogan's or russell brandt's podcast. because nobody believes what they see in mainstream press. they do not believe that those organizations are reporting on the level. and there is a good reason. these organize nations dating all the way back to the wmd episode have continually made mistakes and not owned up to them. in order to do better, all they

have to do is perform better. and when they make mistakes, admit it and rebuild trust. there is no way around it. you cannot do the algorithmic thing that declares who is more trustworthy. trust is organic between people. and you cannot mechanize it. i think it is a mistake to think that you can. again, it gives someone power that does not deserve it. host: lewis in new jersey. independent. caller: hello. how are you doing? the question i have is how jimmy is still on when he is so far ahead of the curve with russiagate, covid and many other things? how come he has not been canceled? is it the money he brings in? guest: not only that, people who

have interviewed jimmy have been throttled or removed from platforms. caller: he has too. guest: i have as well. in his case, one of the things that caused them to be deranked on some of these platforms was simply telling a true story about something that happened to him which is that he took the vaccine and then developed long covid symptoms afterwards which is something that the nih admitted that was true. this is the problem with the whole thing is that government agencies have policies that they want people to follow. they want people to get the vaccine. so rather than targeting -- they have this idea of now information which is true but politically unhelpful. so, they will go after posts that they say will promote hesitancy. that can mean something that is true like for instance somebody

who gets the shot and get sick. but, it will tend to promote hesitancy if you printed. and that is not how the media is supposed to work. i was raised in a media system where it is true it is a good story. we do not really care about how you interpret it. our business is to decide whether it is true or not. we put it out, and we trust the public to make good decisions. this new system of censorship assumes that the public cannot handle true information. so it tries to make the political decision ahead of time, and that is why it is faulting -- faulty. host: you started racket news. explain why you went from " rolling stone" to racket news. guest: i work on sub stack which is a new subscription-bad media outlet. i had a great gig at "rolling

stone" and i covered presidential campaigns are rolling stone magazine which is the job that hunter thompson did and i had a great time. but things began to get pretty tense after donald trump got elected. i did not agree that there was compelling proof in the russiagate story. and i started realizing that i will not last long in conventional media. i knew -- i moved to this subscription-based model and i am doing better than ever. i am making more money than i ever was before. the media business was in decline previously. it is interesting to watch. the audiences are plummeting in regular media and places like sub stack are thriving. host: what approach are you taking to the stories that you print on your site, racket news. guest: i discover what i think is interesting which is mainly

what i did most of my career until 2016 when i started to get more motion from editors. i think the censorship story that i started to cover at " rolling stone" is a compelling and massively underreported story. i have been working on it for six years now, more or less nonstop for the last two. and, it is something where i get a lot of audience organically because the major organizations cover it from another point of view. they will not cover the censorship angle but they only want to talk about disinformation and misinformation. that is getting people to forget that freedom of speech is important. they want them to worry about the other thing and forget about the loss of rights. i'm covering it from the other view and i want to thank those other organizations for not covering the story. host: louisville, kentucky.

benny is a democrat there. caller: thank you so much and a pleasure to be on. i watched you on bill mar and other platforms previously. i am calling because it seems like you are saying that there is no reason to censor and as long as people will identify or say that they've actually done misinformation like fox news. they have not owned up to those voting machines. and they still have to pay that money. but i have not heard them. and i watch it all the time because i am trying to see when they will correct their issues. they do not do it. and you have a strong following of people see all of this stuff and i think there should be either censor them, or something showing that it is a lie and is not true.

so -- guest: you do not seem to think -- you are not convinced that they are telling the truth and you are not full by it. why do you think other people absolutely must be? caller: i have talked to people all the time and i get into disagreements. with donald trump for example, the last election people were telling me that i work with that he did win and you will see that he won and i said we would wait and see. and then after it was confirmed that they did not cheat and he did lose the election, they still went down this road because he continued to say and fox news continued to promote that it was all lies. guest: do you think if a government agency forced these groups to correct themselves that that would change the opinions of all of the people with whom you are upset? it would only harden them.

throughout history, and i am old enough to have gone to school when there was a soviet union and absolute censorship of media. if they -- if the government said it they assumed that the opposite was true. if you have a system of censorship in the country and networks are forced to say one thing or another they will not believe it. the next time we have a pandemic and there are recommendations on these channels they are going to do the opposite what those recommendations are. you cannot censor and expect people to trust the media it does not work that way. host: benny, are you still there, do you have a response? caller: i just think at some point there needs to be a label or something saying this has been checked and it is not true. go ahead. guest: it does not work like

that. the only way you will reach those people if you think they are wrong is to argue with them and -- in good faith. and, if you cannot reach them. then they will never be reachable, not by government fiat. the american system is based upon the idea that we are all adults and we can all handle information. and we take what madison called the multiplicity of interests and we sort out all of this information. and from that soup of staff, we make our own political decisions. if you have the government in there acting as a sensor or arbiter of fact, which is exactly the opposite of how the founders intended this country to work, what you are going to get his people not listening at all. so, a precondition to getting people to listen to you or change your minds is to not

force them to believe something. and what you are thinking about doing is trying to force them to have a point of view, which will never work. host: how do you respond to people who point to january 6 and say the president saying -- the former president saying that the election was rigged and that he did not lose and the culmination of the speech on the march to the capital, it is the misinformation that led to that. how do you respond to that? guest: what i would say is that the bigger culprit in incidents like that is the loss of trust in conventional media and the loss of trust and other politicians which is caused by stories for instance like russiagate, which was false on a number of levels. if you make mistakes and you lose the trust of audiences, they will believe someone else.

and that is going to be true whether or not you have a sensor. if you had a sensor -- censor they will rebel even more. and so, by the way i was on twitter. i saw all the internal discussions within twitter about what we do about the problem of donald trump. one of the problems they have is that trump himself did not actually violate their terms of service to the point where they had a reason sufficiently to ban him and they had to change the definition of incitement to justify taking him up twitter. does taking donald trump off twitter help or hurt his popularity with his supporters? it is a total misunderstanding of how media works to think that it helps. it actually emboldens and hardens his support when you do that. host: georgetown, kentucky.

randy, a republican. caller: good morning. bless you and you have a hard road to travel, sir. i have been trying to speak out against something that has happened about beach in this country for so many years. you can understand where your plight will go. and that is what title i three churches and it sounds crazy. but purchase god from all religions and christians. and god is everything and god is politics and society. and this is the plight that you are going to have. you trying convention a christian that these institutional churches are against what they should believe and you will see what i am talking about. thank you so much. host: alright. host: we are going to steve in

maryland. democratic caller. caller: good to speak to you. it is all about control. we have lost everything in this country when it comes to control. we are no different in china when it comes to state run media anymore. so, you are fighting an uphill battle. i wish you the best but eventually it is all about control. and it speaks for itself. guest: well, thank you for the comment and that is very pessimistic. i disagree. look, the chinese system is fully controlled. the european system is now on the road to something like that with the digital services act. but i think the american system is the best because it recognizes something that is absolutely true. again, the soviet union in 1989

or 1988. they did not read the newspapers and they read the stuff that people passed around among each other because they trusted it more than they trusted the official versions. that is always going to be true, that there is going to be somebody who speaks and is trusted and the person who is trusted the most is the person who does not force you or control you. and i think the beauty of the american system is that we always recognized that lack of control is a fundamental aspect of how communication works. each is free and have -- any effort to try and control it only lessens the ability for the public to communicate and be educated. i do hope that we do not abandon our unique approach and we do fight for our free speech rights. host: craig in new jersey.

independent. caller: hello. i am a user of twitter and i was banned by elon musk and my question is why do you see so many people seeing him as the defender of free speech when he has banned and shadow bands so many people on twitter after his acquisition? guest: look, it is very unfortunate when i first started doing the twitter files. elon was talking a big game about being a free speech advocate. he has done a lot of questionable things since. so -- and most the people on the platform i write on our de amplified. that does not mean that we should abandon free speech principles and we should criticize elon musk. the problem is that all of these gigantic platforms whenever the

owner is involved they are always going to be playing these decisions about -- weighing the decisions about if they will take the profits about operating in countries with very strict rules about certain kinds of content or whether they will fight back. he tried to do in brazil and then quickly surrendered. so yes. i am not pleased with elon musk. but the reason he think -- people think he has a free speech advocate is because he at least talk to the good game and he did do a few things like release the twitter files. host: when you are deamplified how do you know? guest: they told me. my argument with twitter happened at the end of the twitter files project. because i would not the sub stack platform and they took down a whole bunch of my material. there was what they called a

blanket search ban on my account for a period of time. they say they took that off what i can see from my traffic numbers that they have not. i am getting 30 or 40 times less traffic than i did at the moment. even before the twitter files project. so, i can guess which exactly tools that they have applied to my account. but i know at least during a period of time because they told me and i have it in writing that i was placed on what they call a deny list. host: what is their opposition to substack and why do they want you off that? guest: it is a small independent platform that in early 2023 put out a product called notes which they saw as a competitor to twitter. it is not. twitter is 1000 times bigger. it is a tiny platform.

but they believe that this company, according to elon was trying to kill twitter. the fact that i would not leave it got it very upset. and that was there be if with beeg -- beef. it was very strange, the whole thing. host: darlington, south carolina. an independent. caller: hello, how are you doing today? guest: good. how are you. caller: i am a vietnam veteran 78 years old and i would like to hear your viewpoints on the voting rules and regulations of the election as far as citizenship goes. like i said, i have been voting since the 1960's. and we used to have rules and regulations to vote. you had to be a citizen number one. and the other rules and regulations, know what i am talking about. can you elaborate on why the

rules were changed about four or five years ago? host: i do not know if this is a story you are following? guest: i have only started. i grew up in the tradition where any kind of restrictions on access to voting was harkening back to the 60's and literacy test and jim crow and all those things. it is true that there is a significant change during the pandemic. i have not figured out how all of those things work. there were big changes like the legalization of vote harvesting where they essentially outsourced those rules that you used to talk about to private actors who do not have to be monitored when they are collecting votes. i do worry about that. although i just do not know how much data is in about how ineffective or effective they are. host: mike in hubbard, ohio.

republican. caller: i wanted to talk to you about youtube has change the stuff without they handle information. running up to the 2020 election i was watching videos and i have seen people recording people and cafeterias filling out ballot after ballot and they went up to them and asked what they were doing. they said they were filling out ballots. youtube wiped all of the videos off of their platforms and they also took away the dislike button. you can no longer see if you like a press conference you cannot see how many dislikes there are. only likes. i was wondering if you could touch on that subject. thank you. guest: yes. so, google and sorry. google and its sister company youtube obviously in 2017, they

changed their standard. they had the saying implemented called project owl which among other things changed the -- how they of rank or down rank content. and they wanted to do what they called surfacing authoritative content. the idea is if it is a big mainstream eyes asian like the new york times, we will take it. if it is an independent outlet, that is going to be sited less, even if your search matches closely on an independent platform. i have covered cases that are kind of incredible of the dichotomy and how they approach content. for instance, they are independent people who shoot video who shot footage of january 6. those folks were not allowed to publish their video. when they sold the exact same

video to cable stations like cnn or newspapers like the new york times, the same video was allowed because they were judging authority. they were judging the track record of the big media organization versus the smaller media organization even though it is the same content. i think that is dangerous and institutionalizes hierarchical decision-making. one of the beauties of the original internet is that almost anybody could become a media star overnight by doing a good job. and they have made it much more difficult for that to happen with these new systems. host: the founder and publisher of racket news, which you can find through substack. what will viewers find when they go to racket news? what stories are they working on? guest: i cover digital censorship.

mostly what i do is national security state. war on terror issues, terror watch list and changes in the lawsons 11. -- law since 9/11 but mostly i have been doing the censorship stuff. host: thank you for the conversation this morning on the washington journal. we appreciate it. guest: thank you. host: thank you for watching and participating. we will be back tomorrow morning for another conversation at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. enjoy the rest of your day. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> today on c-span, conservative christian activists and leaders will discuss the 2024 election, education issues and abortion of a family research council event. watch live at 1015 -- 10:15. and then angie crepe faces joe teirab. it is beg sted by minnesota public radio. and 5:40 p.m. eastern, kamala harris will speak to suorters in flint, michigan. republican presidential nominee donald trump returns to butler, pennsylvania where over the summer he survived an assassination attempt. we will have live coverage on c-span. soon after that we will have an encore presentation of theic presidential debate between ohio

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>> new jobs numbers out this morning from the bureau of labor statistics show the u.s. economy added 254,000 jobs last month up from 100 59,000 jobs in august. the unemployment rate chopped -- dropped from 4.2% to 4.1% after interest rate cuts from the federal reserve last month. >> 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 source for capitol hill, providing balanced and unfiltered coverage of government. taking you to where the policy is debated and decided with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable.