♪ host: good morning everyone on this thursday, october 31. you can count the number of days

until election day on one hand. we continue our live coverage of campaign 2024 in a conversation with all of you. the candidates are back on the trail continuing to make a closing argument. we have live coverage throughout the day and into the evening on c-span1 and c-span2. you can follow along at c-span.org and are free video mobile app c-span now. join the conversation with all of us. we want your thoughts on campaign 2024. here's how you can join the conversation. if you're supporting the former president and the senator from ohio jd vance, (202) 748-8001. if you are supporting the vice president and minnesota governor tim walz, call at (202) 748-8000 . if neither is your candidate or you are undecided, your line is (202) 748-8002.

you can text with your first name, city and state at (202) 748-8003. join us on facebook or post onx. the -- on x at the handle @cspanwj. the former president in green bay yesterday. he was talking about the garbage comment made by president biden and showing up in a garbage truck with the trump logo for his reelection campaign. earlier in the day, he was in rocky mount, north carolina. also talking about garbage -- the garbage comment made by the former president. he made those comments at all of his stops yesterday. let's listen to what he had to say in green bay, wisconsin. [video] >> i have to begin by saying americans are not

garbage. [cheers] this week, kamala has been comparing her political opponents to the most people mass murderers in history. now speaking on a call for her campaign last night crooked joe biden finally said what he and kamala really think of our supporters. he called them garbage. no way. no way. they actually mean it without question. my supporters are far higher quality than crooked joe or lying kamala. higher-quality. my response to joe and kamala is simple. you can't lead america if you don't love americans. it's true. host: the former president in green bay. he made similar remarks at all his stops yesterday.

this storyline dominating the national newspapers. we are getting your thoughts on the latest of campaign 2024. vice president -- the vice president addressed what president biden said in that call. here's what she said to supporters yesterday. [video] >> president biden made that comment last night about garbage. >> listened. . he clarified his comment but i strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. you heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career. i believe the work i do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not. as president of the united states i will be the president of all americans whether you vote for me or not. that is my responsibility and the kind of work i have done my

entire career and a take it seriously. >> [indiscernible] >> he called me last night but it did not come up. >> are you concerned about the divisiveness of the election and if this will dissuade people from supporting you? >> i have been very clear with the american public. i respect the challenges people face. i respect the fact we all have so much more in common then what separates us and most people want a president that understands that. they get that. i have been very clear from my earliest years as a prosecutor. i never ask anyone if they are democrat or republican. i ask if they are ok and that is the kind of president i will be. host: the vice president talking yesterday to reporters before

she hit the campaign trail. steve in new jersey. you are supporting the former president. good morning to you. your thoughts on campaign 2024. caller: mi on the air? -- am i on the air? a vote for harris is like putting the titanic in reverse and hitting the iceberg again. thank you. host: otis from florida voting for the vice president. caller: good morning. kamala harris is a better choice than anything we have had in a long time. the people that hate kamala harris, why is it? what has she done? joe biden is the president of the united states. if you want this country to be a democracy, let everybody have a say. hate her for her policy

would not because donald trump says to. she has proved she was a better candidate across the board, bar none. host: florida, susan. neither candidates are your choice. why is that? caller: i didn't say neither was my choice. i said i have not voted yet. what is confusing me is i have been listening to a lot of the replays of these different campaigns by trump and by harris. what i find kinda confusing in my mind is that donald trump was calling everybody in the united states garbage at one of his rallies. prior to him going to madison square garden. at madison square garden there was a comedian who referred to

puerto rico as garbage. all trump had to do was come on that stage and say that was not appropriate. he didn't even do that, which really concerns me. he had a blatant opportunity to refute what that comedian said and he kept his mouth clamped shut. host: why not vote for the vice president? what is your concern there? caller: my concern is that, yes, she's a li bin in the forefront --only been in the forefront for a few months. the vice presidential role in the united states is to be a supporter of the president. locale mike pence supported donald trump -- look how mike pence supported donald trump for those four years. he was an outstanding vice president. at the bitter end his president

could have cared less about him. so, yeah, i'm questioning all this. i'm questioning the fact that i'm 78 years old. i voted in a lot of elections. my husband is 82. when covid hit the united states, my husband has been working part-time for a company in new york. everything sort of dried up because it was a food company. why aren't the people talking about that? why do they see those four years as golden? they were horrible. people were dying. i don't know. i'm very troubled. i'm troubled by the fact that my father served in world war ii. i had uncles and aunts who

served in the military in world war ii. my father was shot down in world war ii. if he was not able to come back i would not even be here. i just think people ought to think long and hard that have not voted yet like i am thinking long and hard weighing the options of what is better for us. host: you will vote on election day then? you will wait until that day? caller: yes, i will wait. i guess what is foremost in my mind is our democracy and how much i value it and how much it has brought to my family members going back to the late 1800s. listen, i'm jewish. my parents -- my paternal

grandparents fled odessa, russia. my maternal grandparents were on the border of russia and poland. they fled in the 1920's. my mother was born in europe. host: you bring that up because of what? caller: we are all immigrants in this country. the only indigenous people in this country are the american indians. people ought to wake up and realize that. thank you for listening. host: susan who is undecided in florida. she will wait until election day to make up her mind. another storyline from the campaign trail in recent days is jeff bezos's decision for the paper -- the washington post not to endorse. this is the editorial of the washington post. mrs. harris.

's big picture message remains clear. optimism versus pessimism. if they take a moment, americans might be receptive to a positive pitch. the economy is doing better than many people feel. inflation has cooled. the commerce department data released shows the u.s. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.8% in the third quarter. stock markets are at record highs. voters have heard mr. biden and before him barack obama campaign on breaking the fever in washington only to watch politics become more polarized and government were gridlocked. voter patience is running thin, which is one reason mr. trump is nothing such a strong bid this time. that does not mean his vision is the only way. mrs. harris's closing argument suggests she gets that as she made the case to americans for considering a different path. that is the washington post editorial this morning five days out from the election.

the wall street journal this morning in their editorial page right this. here is the editor's note. "the wall street journal has not endorsed a candidate since 1928. our tradition is to some of the candidates of the major parties in separate editorials. we will start with kamala harris. " at home she is no centrist. abroad she seems unprepared for the dangers ahead. that is what the auditory aboard said about the vice president, saying it would be a fourth obama term. two editorials this morning. let's hear from rob in maryland supporting the vice president. caller: good morning. in august of 1814, the british

attacked the capitol. donald trump incited a mob that attacked the capitol. 140 officers were injured. three people died. some committed suicide. no big deal, right? it's a big deal to me. 25 women have come forward to say trump sexually assaulted them. no big deal, right? it's a big deal to me. i was in the air force for 27 years. sacred material. trump had it in a bathroom at mar-a-lago. no big deal, right? it's a big deal to me. 34 felony counts against trump. no big deal, right? big deal to me. also, trump said it's a bad luck to be seen with soldiers with their legs blown off. no big deal. a big deal to me. that's why voting for kamala harris, a real patriot and not a traitor. host: before you go, who will

you vote for in the senate contest in maryland? caller: straight democrats. i'm sick of the republicans. the party is gone. it is trump's party, a cult and i wish murkowski in alaska is a good republican. as is liz cheney. i would vote for liz cheney. host: larry hogan, your former governor has name check people like lisa murkowski and said he would model himself after her. caller: i like larry hogan but it cannot vote for him because the republicans will get the senate. if they get the senate, project 2025 is in place. if trump gets elected. i can't understand how trump can be even running after january 6. i really can't. it doesn't make sense to me. i'm not anti-republican. i wish the party was strong.

host: did you like larry hogan when he was your governor? caller: i did, because he worked across the aisle. if he tries to work across the aisle there are too many radical magas in the senate right now. host: i'm going to move forward here. listen to this next article written today in usa today. you said you're not going to vote for larry hogan because republicans will get the upper chamber of the senate. that could be the case anyway. montana could hold the cards for control of the senate. that is the headline in usa today. montana isn't typically the state that decides elections with this year holds all the cards, at least for the senate. in less than a week montana voters will choose between a republican former navy seal new to politics or third-generation farmer and incumbent democrat hoping to prove the polls wrong. montanans will likely

determine which party controls the chamber for the next two years as democrats battle for every seat to hold their majority. democrats control the senate by a narrow margin of 51-49. republicans need only two -- to win two seats to flip the chamber. one is all but guaranteed, senator joe manchin of west virginia is retiring leaving a safe spot for republicans in the mountain state. democratic montana senator jon tester is republicans' next best target. we will be talking about the results in states like montana and other crucial senate races across the country as well as those tossup house races on election night. tune into our coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. we will continue all night into the early morning hours and then washington journal will pick up live coverage at 7:00 a.m. and we will take it until noon on

wednesday. peter in staten island, new york. good morning to you. caller: i don't know what planet he's on. i was over there. i have seen guys with her legs blown up. [indiscernible] i talked to other guys involved no. the first call. ellis island. by great grandfather came through there, great-grandmother. they came through the right way. [indiscernible] we have to be afraid. [indiscernible] who knows where they are. the red cross. they didn't see it. we have seen communists. it is bad.

people have to understand. you have to like trump. when he was in, nothing was going on. don't forget, the guy that was in the air force for 27 years. [indiscernible] taking money out of these guys? [indiscernible] i inherited money. i'm not bragging. the homeless vets have no legs. these guys are taking care of by the v.a. host: you should have called on the line for those supporting the former president and jd vance. that is how we are dividing the lines this morning. if you are supporting the former president and suprtg -- you can dial in at (202) 748-8001. if youre supporting the vice president and her running mate, minnesota governor tim walls, (202) 748-8000.

if you do not know who you're voting for or will not votfo either candidates, call at (202) 748-8002. let's hear from robert in davenport, iowa, supporting the harris-walz ticket. caller: how are you doing today? it is my birthday. i have been trying to get in for months and months and i finally got in. host: happy birthday. caller: i have already voted, the first day of early voting here in iowa. my main thing is, i wonder about christians. in proverbs 12:22, it says god hates a liar. there is a man running for office who lies all the time. we need a president that you can believe in when he tells you

something. it's important you can trust that person. you cannot trust this man. he is a liar. over 30,000 times. he lies every day. i'm saying christians, god tells you you should hit the liar yourselves. that is what i would say. host: how will you be voting on that abortion ballot initiative in iowa? what is your prediction for how it does there? caller: i am voting -- i already voted. i am voting for the women to have the right to control their own bodies. i can't imagine. some folks on facebook the other day, how can some people who are

politicians overrule a doctor that went to middle school -- medical school and knows what's going on and they will pass laws? you can have an abortion even though you're going to die. that is not right. host: what is your prediction for iowa? caller: i believe we will make sure the women have the right to have an abortion in iowa. host: iowa is one of 10 states with an abortion initiative ballot initiative on the ballot in november for the election to. in robert's case, he voted before election day. we will talk about ballot initiatives coming up on the washington journal in the last hour. we will look at what different policy proposals will be on the ballots and what people will be voting on in different states across the country. the front page of the wall street journal on the economy. the u.s. economy extends its growth streak.

gdp rose at to 20% rate in -- 2.8% rate. we want to show you more from former president trump's rally in green bay, wisconsin. he is talking about the list of policy initiatives he will do if he is elected in november. [video] >> after years of defending foreign borders and protecting foreign lands we are finally going to build up our country. we are going to defend our borders. we are going to protect our citizens. we are going to protect our land. we are going to protect our country. [cheers] we will stop illegal immigration once and for all. we will not be invaded. we will not be occupied. we will not be overrun. we will not be conquered.

we will be a free and proud nation once again. [cheers] we are being invaded. think of it. we are being invaded by massive numbers. very little difference between this invasion and military -- they don't wear a uniform. that is the primary difference. everyone will prosper. every day will be filled with opportunity and hope and loaded up with the good old american dream. we will have the american dream back. but for that to happen we must defeat kamala harris and stop her radical left agenda. we have to have a landslide that is too big to rig. host: the former president trump in green bay, wisconsin, one of the seven battleground states that could determine the

presidential election. in madison, wisconsin, the vice president was there campaigning yesterday. here is what she had to say about her to do list if she were to win in five days. [video] >> at the top of my list is bringing down your cost-of-living. [cheers] that will be my focus every single day as president. i will give a middle-class tax cut to over 100 million americans. [cheers] we will enact the first-ever federal ban on corporate price gouging. [cheers] we will fight to make sure hard-working americans can actually afford a place to live. [cheers] if any of you out there are

caring for an elderly parent, my plan will cover the cost of home care under medicare. [cheers] so that seniors can get the help and care they need to stay in their own homes. it is about dignity. it's about dignity. my plan will lower the cost of childcare, cut taxes for small businesses -- do we have any small business owners here? [cheers] i love are small businesses. my plan will lower health care costs because i believe access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege of those who can afford it. [cheers] host: the vice president in madison, wisconsin. she and her running mate will be on the trail again today. so will the former president and jd vance. we will have coverage on c-span1

and c-span2 today. we wilstt with jd vance in high point, north colina, another battleground state. coverage of that at 10:30 a.m. eastern time on c-span, powered fr video mobile app c-span now, for online at c-span.org -- or online at c-span.org. tim walz is in bucks county, nnlvania, another battleground state. we will have coverage of his remarks at 11:00 a.m. eastern time on c-span2, c-span now and c-span.org. at 8:00 p. tonight, the vice pridt in reno, nevada. e jose get out the vote ral in reno, nevada. we will have coverage at 8:00 m. eastern time on c-span2, c-an now and the free -- the free video mobile app and onne at c-span.org. the form president h tee campaign events planned today. we will ha cerage of his

2:00 p.m. rally in albuquerque, new mexico. that gets underway at 2:00 p.m. eaer watch on c-span2, c-span now or c-span.org. henderso nevada at 6: p. eastern time. you can watch his remarks on c-span, c-span now, c-span.org. 10:00 p.m. eastern time, phoenix, arizona, a neighboring battlegrndtate. later tonighwi political commentator tucker carlson in phoenix. you can watch it on c-span2, and all of our coverage on c-span now and c-span.org. craig in brunswick, ohio. your supporting the former president. what your thoughts on the latest on the campaign trail? caller: this piece of garbage, lying biden and dodging kommie

belong in prison. americans will have the last laugh. make america great again. host: dorothy in virginia supporting the vice president and governor tim walz. caller: hi. how are you? thank you for taking my call. host: go ahead. we are listening to you. caller: i have already mailed in my vote. i'm disabled. 78 years old. my three reasons for voting for the former vice president are, number one, i'd like to be able to survive another two years in my life. if the vice president does not get elected and this country elects a person is going to take away my social security that i worked for since i was 15 years

old. it's the only reason i'm able to live on my own still. i have to vote for somebody who is going to make sure i have my social security. i am voting for our democracy. i do not want to spent the last two years of my life in a country run by a convicted felon who does nothing but lie. the third reason i am voting for vice president harris is because it is time. we have a woman -- it is time we have a woman run this country. commit have not done the best of it. i would like to give a woman a chance. i am voting for her because she stands up for women's rights. i am tired of seeing women die for no reason except for the supposed supreme court who has

been bought and paid for. host: those are dorothy's comments. california, janice is they are supporting the former president and his running mate jd vance. caller: good morning, greta. this is the first time i spoke -- i try to call once a month because the topics are great. it's about the people sending over their children into the country to get away from gang members. i wonder how many people still support that. [indiscernible] my other point is, biden sabotaging kamala. it is obvious he is undermining her campaign. the third thing i wanted to

mention was the hypocrisy of these so-called christian brothers and sisters that claim they cannot vote for a liar. but they vote for abortion? are you kidding me? god said thou shalt not kill. for those who kill innocent children [indiscernible] you might as well throw yourself into the ocean. who are you to tell anybody [indiscernible] he used all kinds of people throughout the bible. my mother will be 85 years old. she voted for trump in 2016. then she was kind of shunned and made to feel like she stepped

out of order because she did not vote democrat by certain members of my family. this time she voted for kamala harris. i asked my mother. let me ask you this. do you stand for abortion? she said no. do you stand for open borders? anybody can come into our country. she said no. i said, ok. do you love the fact the your taxpayer dollars are going to pay for illegal aliens that are living better than you getting free medical and you have to scrape by? host: how did the conversation end up with your mom? caller: when i finished asking all the questions, why did you vote for her?

she said because i'm a democrat. lord, have mercy. host: janice in california supporting the former president. as we talked about earlier today, the comets made by president biden, the garbage comment he made during a call to supporters is dominating the headlines this morning. the former president picking up on them yesterday at all of his campaign stops. here is what he had to say yesterday comparing this comments to what hillary clinton said in 2060 when she called from supporters deplorable. [video] >> let's say 225 million people. she's essentially -- he's calling them garbage. oh, she hated that last night when she heard that. honestly, i do think she is smart have to know what it really means. what that meant. that makes deplorable look like

baby stuff. remember hillary? she said deplorable and irredeemable. oh, what a terrible term to use the word irredeemable. somehow irredeemable. i think it is worse. you know what is worse in anything? garbage. we are garbage. we are garbage. i call you the heart and soul of america. you are the people that built america. host: at the white house yesterday the press secretary answered questions repeatedly about with the president had to say, the garbage comments. here's is a little bit. [video] >> does he have regrets for not being more -- his language was not specific. if you listen to the video -- >> i was in the room. >> if you are a normal person looking at the clips online you could come to the conclusion he was calling at minimum this one

man garbage, if not all trump supporters garbage. does he regret not being more precise with his language? i apologize. does he have any regret for how this has shadowed vice president harris's campaign? >> a couple of things they are there's a lot you laid out. look, the president want to clarify because he understood what he may have said -- he understood what he was saying was being taken out of context. he wanted to be very clear about what he was trying to say. i just read that once over. you will have the tweet or the statement that is on x if you want to read it now. feel free to do so. he was talking about hateful rhetoric. we have call that hateful rhetoric from here. we have.

obviously, this hateful rhetoric was about a particular community. a community -- the puerto rican community. they are americans. this is a community he respects. he wanted to make sure he called that out. hateful rhetoric should be called out. it should be. at the same time, the president is a president for all. he will continue to do so. he will continue to serve for everyone. i want to step back for a second because i think it's important. yesterday we went to baltimore, maryland. he announced of 3 billion-dollar project in baltimore. that project is going to help 27 states. 11 of the states have republican governors. this is what this president cares about. making sure people who are in need get the assistance that

they need. host: on the white house briefing yesterday, the press secretary there fielding several questions about the president's remarks on tuesday night when he was talking to latino voters about voting. let's listen to those comments. [video] >> donald trump has no character. he does not give a damn about the latino community. he's a failed businessman. he only cares about the unit frenzy has an acute bleeding wealth -- the billionaire friends he has and accumulating wealth. who said that in the last 100 years? just the other day as speaker at his rally called puerto rico a floating island of garbage. let me tell you something. i don't know the -- the puerto ricans in my home state of delaware are good, honest people. the only garbage out there are

his supporters. it's unconscionable and un-american. it is contrary to everything we have done. host: that was president biden on tuesday night. inside the washington post this morning, an apostorphe could settle the score the comment. the key line, i will offer three different versions that change biden's meeting with the key part folded. the only garbage i sequel floating at there is his supporters, no apostorphe. his demonization of latinos is unconscionable and un-american. then you have, the only garbage i see flooding at there is his supporters, apostorphe. or, the only garbage out there is his supporters, apostrophe s. republicans favor the first one

because it labels some of trump's supporters as garbage. mark in d.c., you are supporting the vice president and governor walz. five days to go before election day. hi mark. caller: so nice to hear your voice. the first, called in by spoke -- the first time i called in i spoke to you as well. i support the office of the presidency across administrations. i was on campus during january 6 and i had a walk-through national guard members and. -- walk through national guard members. it was a stressful time. it's about agendas, not individuals. with that said, agendas are often carried out by people. those people often work at the white house. the university of virginia miller center has a really good conference on the presidency where the former president's

chief of staff chris slidell said the former president leads through conflict. he takes two people with opposing opinions and puts those people in the room has them to get out. he believes that is the best way to get an answer to an issue. unfortunately, the result is often low morale, hostility and burnout. i think we saw that with his last administration. i have personal values of honesty, respect and dedication. that doesn't really sound like a respectful way to lead and transparently and honestly from my perspective i don't think it is good for our country. i will be voting for kamala harris. host: jerry in louisiana supporting the former president. caller: yes. i want to say we are five days away before donald trump becomes our 47th president.

i am predicting he will carry five of the seven swing states. the problem with the democrats is they are the reason why our country is in the shape it's in with the illegal aliens coming over the border and the prices of every thing so high. my prediction, like i said, in five days donald trump will become our 47th president. host: which five swing states are you predicting will go -- will be red on election day? caller: it's going to be five of the seven but it will be swing states that will matter. i think kamala harris will concede before midnight. she's not qualified to be president of the united states, period. no matter what she s -- no matter what they say, she's not qualified. host: fred supporting the vice president. caller: thank you having me. i would like to point out several things.

to start off, donald trump is hate-based. think about this. have we see him be proactive or positive about anything? what is he using it for? the star and induce fear -- stir and induce fear into all-americans that support him. the feeling continues on to where they basically are blind fascists. they are supporting a fascist who is duping them about the presence of him in society and life. when has he ever done anything for anyone, and maga, make america great again, i'm so stunned people would still be believing in this man and supporting this man with perspectives of haiti continues to employ for his empowerment. never ever have i seen him say

something positive about what america can be as what america actually is. that is in the respect to how can america go from being great when he's the president for four years to not being great for the next four years? we look at business. business is thriving. why have people been cut short? corporate greed. that is so obvious. host: tony who was in michigan. who is your candidate? caller: i don't have one. i don't vote. i kind of listen -- first of all, good morning, greta. good morning america. thank you for taking my call. i don't see how someone can vote and then remain unbiased. i believe that 99.9% of

americans should vote. i hope their candidate wins. but people don't seem to be able to see the faults of their own candidate or the good points and the other candidate. they are so hard over one way or another. host: you are in about a grant state. why not vote -- a battleground state. why not vote? caller: i want to try to remain objective to where i can see the positive and negative on both sides. frank zappa a long time ago had a quote that said politics is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex. that is what it seems to me. we are $34 trillion in debt. we are financing a work in ukraine w -- war in ukraine.

host: i'm not going too far down that road. virginia in orlando. you are supporting the harris-walz ticket. caller: good morning, greta, and everybody on the line. i want to give you a brief statement about me and then you can understand why i voted the way i did. i was born and raised in birmingham, alabama. i demonstrated and went to jail. also i moved to huntsville, alabama. i worked at redstone arsenal for the government for 40 years. i retired in 2008. i'm 82 years old. last saturday, and i want to say to the lady that i heard earlier from florida that is confused about voting and who to vote for, last saturday my daughter

and son-in-law went to the polls and we voted. we voted a straight democratic ticket for kamala harris and walz. the reason why had more to do than morals -- with morals and anything else. my parents raised us to always tell the truth. donald trump is the chief of lies. you can google it. he has told over 35,000 lies. when he was in office i had several friends that passed from covid. a friend of mine, her whole family died from covid. she was the only one that was left. he knew about this disease. they told him the devastating things that would happen with the disease. he hated president obama so much

he throughout everything about disease to help the people and told them to take bleach. there were people. here that did that and died from taking bleach. host: virginia in florida on why she is supporting the harris-walz ticket. rick in wilmington, delaware. caller: how are you? i am a delaware guy. kind of disappointed with biden 's term. i'm undecided still. i have got to say, i feel bad for the democrats. they are kind of clueless. kamala is not the presidential choice. kamala is a person that they are stuck with now because they did not think and anticipate the

mental demise of biden. for whatever it was, five or six month ago when biden's mind started failing. what are we going to do now? they had no plan. all right, kamala. your it. -- you are it. kamala is there because they sat on their hands and did not prepare to groom a new candidate. host: rick, you are undecided. how will you decide over the next five days? what we do to make up your mind? -- will you do to make up your mind? caller: i'm getting a little older. if trump is really going to cut social security or mess with senior benefits, then seniors have to get together and try to find a way to impeach him. i'm leaning towards trump

because of the disaster that kamala and joe has done with our borders. unfortunately, it is a complete disaster. i'm kind of leaning towards trump right now. host: rick in delaware, undecided leaning towards the former president. the candidates will be back out on the campaign trail today. we will be live on both networks, c-span1 and c-span2. you can find their stops online come on demand at c-span.org, or our free video mobile app c-span now. we will continue live coverage through the weekend. we will have conversations with all of you on the washington journal, and in between our live campaign coverage this weekend on saturday and sunday, monday night, leading up to our election day and election night coverage that starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern time here on c-span on tuesday, november 5. at the white house last night

the president and the first lady marking halloween with a trick-or-treat celebration at the white house. president biden walking out there to greet the folks that gathered for treats on the white house lawn. that is jill biden, costume there -- in the costing there. a tradition at the white house, many presidents handing out treats. happy halloween to all of you. sherry in adams, wisconsin. we are talking about campaign 2024. go ahead. caller: yes, i'm here. i want to say i don't love everything trump says, but then again that's probably true about every politician we see on tv nowadays. i think that trump is better to run the country. he is stronger on policy and more decisive.

i want to say to everybody out there, he has promised to protect social security despite what the democrats report. kamala appears to be in over her head and underqualified. i look forward to seeing trump as our 47th president and i predict vance will follow him into the white house. host: mary in ohio. caller: hello. i would like to discuss the elephant in the room. the heritage foundation has been cutting women's rights left and right. sunday -- all the young men in the trump program, what they don't realize is that trump is the front man for the heritage foundation. all of those young men who have trusted the woman with birth control will suddenly find themselves without her having a

choice. they have to make the choice. i see a lot of those young men in the next 10 years paying child support for one or more children or married with a wife and child trying to begin their working life. i think it is going to be a real hard time for them to find a good job or continue in college or to move here and there when they have a wife and child, or tethered by large child support payments. host: that is mary why she is supporting the harris-walz ticket. scott in new york. how will you vote? caller: good morning. i am 62 years old and i am deciding this will be the first

election, a presidential one i voting if i decide to vote. the whole country is torn apart. i would like to say one thing. does anyone remember what happened when puerto rico was hit with a hurricane a fuse ago and the president went down there with the paper towel and it was a big joke? he went down there. we are running a man who does not care about humans. the democratic party has not done much but is not the end of times yet. donald trump was probably place you by the people power to end our democracy. host: scott, you don't sound undecided. caller: i am kind of leaning democrat. i belong to the human party. that's true.

i probably might not vote. if i do vote, this would be my first time. i'm 62 years old. host: why doesn't the vice president represent you? caller: i hear so much trash and garbage. i sit here and i watched this guy beat up -- he said that stuff about garbage the other day. trump is not running against her. if trump set out from new york, -- if he told the truth about what is about i would vote for the man. i'm not going to probably because i believe -- truth means a lot. truth means a lot. god bless america. i hope we have a country left after it is all said and done. host: tricia in forney, texas.

tricia in texas, good morning to you. caller: can you hear me? host: go ahead. caller: i voted for harris. i was listening to the gentleman earlier speak about biden and his mental demise. trump has it as well. i have not always been a democrat. i'm independent but the republican party has turned into occult -- a cult. everything they say is demeaning and finger-pointing. kamala, if you like her or not, it is rude to always say she is dumb, not smart. anytime i talk with a trump supporter, that is all you hear is negativity now. putting down people. i have two black sons who also voted for kamala. they are 18 and 20. this is the first time voting.

i told him you can be republican, democrat or independent. i just suggest to you to listen to both. then you make your mind up. my youngest son was going to go for trump. i did not put him down. i said listen to both. the republican party do that. host: direct your son to our website or app, c-span now. he can listen to the candidates in their own words in its entirety at their campaign rallies they are holding across the country, largely in battleground states. the seven battleground states. that continues today. you can find our coverage online at c-span.org or the free video mobile app c-span now. the vice president has another event tonight in las vegas. jennifer lopez will be speaking at that rally. jennifer lopez will be appearing with the vice president in

support of her candidacy. also endorsements from the hill newspaper, arnold schwarzenegger has endorsed the vice president, saying trump would only make us angrier and more divided. let's hear from arnold in west virginia. good morning. caller: i would like to say something about the election going on. democrats used to be for the working people but i don't think they are anymore. mrs. harris, she is against drilling for gas. what will happen if they quit drilling for gas and we have to have gas cards? you can't afford the gas. that is terrible. host: jd in oklahoma city. are you undecided? caller: i am undecided right now. i have not heard any candidates

tell me why or how they are going to reduce the deficit. i have not heard any plans. we take in true trillion dollars -- $2 trillion and spent $4 trillion a year and it's going to bite us. host: jd wants to hear more about the deficit. we will continue our conversation on the washington journal about campaign 2024. , we will talk with -- up next, we will speak with former press secretary for donald trump sean spicer. later, author and columnist jonathan alter, author of the new book, “american reckoning: inside trump's trial - and my own.” stay with us. ♪ >> this election night c-span offers something different. the state races that will decide the balance of power in congress. no political pundits, no spin,

no commercials. just the candidates, the results and you. follow c-span this election night beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern live, tuesday on tv, online or on the free c-span now video app. >> as the 2024 presidential campaign continues american history tv presented historic presidential elections. learn about the issues of different eras, uncover what made them historic and the lasting impact on the nation. this saturday, the election of 1980. >> i've been president now for almost four years. i've had to make thousands of decisions. and each one of those decisions has been a learning process. i've seen the strength of my nation and i've seen the crises

that it opposed and i've had to deal with those crises as best i could. >> are you better off than you were four years ago? is it easier for you to go and buy things in the store than it was four years ago? is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? because america -- is america as respected throughout the world as it was? do you feel that we are as strong as we were four years ago? >> in a landslide victory, republican ronald reagan defeat iumbent democratic president jimmy carter. watch historic presidential election saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. washington journal continues. host: joining us this morning a sean spicer, host of the sean

spicer show and the former white house press secretary during the trump administration. thanks for being here with us. we are talking about campaign 2024 obviously. there's only five days to go. what is your assessment of how this all ends on election day, if it ends on election day? guest: i mean look, i'm actually really bullish on this. obviously i support president trump and the republican ticket but when you look at the averages of where the polls are in all the battleground states, it's not just the edge that president trump has, it is the trend that is going in his direction. so you look not just at one pole, but at last several polls, and the wind is at his back. and frankly you look at the balla ground state senate races as well, everything from wisconsin and michigan to pennsylvania and nevada, arizona, each of those same things. there's not one race where republicans aren't moving in the right direction. i'm not saying everyone of them

is going to go over the finish line, i hope they do, but i would rather be going into election day as a republican with the wind at our back than trying to hold back and insurgents. host: what do you think of the remarks made at the madison square garden rally and the former's reaction to them? did it hurt his campaign? >> no. first of all, they weren't remarks. it was a comedian who told a bad joke and i think i am large, republican that i know says it was a bad joke. the comedian got up for hours before president trump got up and said a joke that fell flat because it was stupid. that's what it was, a stupid joke that went over very poorly because it wasn't funny. and i think sometimes that is the risk you take with comedians. that being said, i don't know a single person outside of jon stewart who said hey, it wasn't funny. juxtapose that the president

biden who is the current president of the united states who literally said the support to president trump are garbage. that is it, no question about it. i know the white house is trying to parse some of the words but as somebody who has a little bit of experience gargling words and saying things and living at that level, he screwed up and instead of trying to make it a grammar issue, he should have just said he was sorry. but i actually think he believes it. he campaigned in 2020 -- 2016 saying he got in the race because of donald trump, he announced his reelection because the threat of donald trump. this shouldn't be surprising to anybody, but the bottom line is that four days later us talking about a comedian at a rally and not the current president of the united states really explains where the media is in the current environment. >> candidates are making their closing arguments. some say the former president's rhetoric is to dark. we heard that from nikki haley. and they want to play for our

viewers and have you respond to megyn kelly's remarks about the former president's rally. >> trump was not well served by those around him last night. it wasn't enough to rally all that nonsense, but i'm telling you even for me, and i voted for donald trump last week, it was too bro-test that. you are trying to win an election in which you are female voters. maybe when you present in front of thousand that madison -- madison square garden, you clean up the talk just a little so you don't alienate women in the middle of america who are already on the fence about republicans. do they have no women advising their campaign? is there no actual woman sitting behind the scenes coming up with guest lineup and saying let's just have a word with you guys were going to be speaking about this isn't the bar?

this isn't their living room. this is a campaign. this is politics. we are trying to get him elected. we don't need to rally the base or guys anymore, and it is not helpful even if we do want to rally the base or the guys to go full off-color insults to different racial groups and so on. i get it. nothing that was said offended me, i'm almost un offend able. but i understand how this plays with women and that was an effed up choice. guest: i respect your point of view on this, and it can't hurt to have more women out there. i thought it was great that melania was speaking. the campaign is surrounded by a bunch of people who have data, and the messages that work with them. madison square garden with some

speakers, this was literally in terms of the conservative world, this was like our woodstock. think about the people who were there, robert f kennedy, tulsi gabbard, melania trump, dr. phil, it was pretty unbelievable in terms of a lineup. but i think all in all that was a great rally that got worldwide coverage, and at the end of the day, what i most people paying attention to? donald trump. the contrast between him and kamala harris, especially when it comes to the economy and border security. the number one and number two issues. so look, donald trump i think is going to be headed for a big victory on tuesday night. i think we got to keep our foot on the gas and keep running through the tape, but at the end of the day, you look at a state like new hampshire, right now i don't know that we will end up winning it, but you've got brand-new polls showing up, that

wasn't considered a valid ground state weeks ago. my stay here in virginia, this is a state that joe biden won by 10. the wind is at donald trump's back. if everything about a ground state poll after poll, the wind is at his back so they're are clearly doing something right. host: the crowd at madison square garden, a worldwide event. what about the thousands that gathered here in the nation's capital this year to hear the vice president talk at the ellipse? guest: good for her. i think it was somewhat awkward that the backdrop was the white house and you had a current sitting president, her boss, feet away in the white house and he wasn't invited. he could literally have walked down to be there in five minutes, it was completely secured by the secret service. why wasn't joe biden invited? frankly it was a recitation of all of her talking points.

great, this is politics, glad to see you are out there engaging with the american people but it with the same speech i heard a million times. more than anything i think it was extremely offer the line, her own boss to his feet away wasn't invited up to the stage of the current sitting president. by the way, had he been invited, maybe he wouldn't have made the garbage comments on that call. host: when you were talking about madison square garden, you said that there's data out there that the campaign has of who they still need to reach. who is that that they still need to reach? guest: my guess is that it is low propensity voters, people who don't tune in to cable-television every day, people who are working hard to put food on the table for their family, themselves, trying to pay the rent. who don't necessarily tune into cable news shows everyday or read the mainstream legacy media outlets. so they are trying to find surrogates or outlets, which is why i think president trump's

media strategy, new, independent media, podcasts has been brilliant. if they are a truck driver may be or part of the gig economy, podcasts when they have a break, they different time to come home and watch television, this is been great. so they are reaching them and you think about all of the outlets on sunday night, i was actually out at a family event and i was just clicking around at different sites that were all carrying that rally live in the thousands of people on each one and i thought to myself this is brilliant. this isn't just about trying to make sure cable news carries it. they got all sorts of different channels connecting with their audience. host: a call in florida, supporting the former president. caller: actually i'm glad to speak to two different hosts. i've only called in one time,

and it was good. but what i want to say real quick is people forget to think that the most important thing that we have is our children. that's the most important thing between men and women. they should always think with having kids, that's the most important thing. that's what makes you happy. on that note, the women who are being left out, they are not being left out, they are just not talking about how important they are. but without women we wouldn't have kids and we wouldn't have a family, we wouldn't be happy. the other thing i want to say, with all the resources that we have under our feet as we hear it, all this gold, natural gas and other resources, why aren't we using that to pay off the

deficit? i'll guarantee if you take democrats and independents and republicans and put them together, they would vote for that if that money could go toward paying off the deficit. host: let's get a response. guest: so first of all, i'm not entirely sure on the first comment what you mean about women. clearly they are a massive demographic in an election that is being very targeted, so i think both sides are working hard for that vote. secondly on the energy piece of this, look, you heard president trump. drill, baby, drill. we were energy independent when he was president. he continues to recognize the importance of fossil fuels in our current economy, so yeah, it is important. and i will finish with respect to the deficit and take a hit on my own party on this, i think this is an issue that has not gotten the attention it deserves.

it's probably the greatest existential threat that our nation faces in terms of long-term viability. i wish both parties paid more attention to the debt and deficit. and with all due respect, i do get the point you are making on the energy, but this isn't just about driving up revenue and saying let's get more energy, more revenue, and then we can spend more. that's the problem in washington. you tell them there is more money, they will spend more. are we spending efficiently and effectively? universally the answer is no. the problem is politicians on both sides aren't rewarded for actually having disciplined measures. more are rewarded because the increased spending of some sort. host: you said earlier that you are bullish on the former president winning this election. if he doesn't, what do you think if the message that would have resonated with voters that they would choose the vice president? guest: here's what i would say

to you. if you look at the polls, i feel bullish, i have the windows that are back in every one of these polls, but there is not one of the seven, and i would add virginia and new hampshire into that mix, that were outside the margin of error one way or another. and when you get down to the final two or three weeks of the campaign, mechanics matter. it is that ground game, we looked at how we were operating as a party, some of the digital efforts, research efforts. early vote, absentee vote. we have a look back to see if there are deficiencies. i don't know if it is a messaging thing is much as a mechanics issue and a logistics issue. at the end when it is this close, did you do your job? and it may be that there were one or two states were you came up short, and that was a bigger problem. i don't want to get in front of

tuesday night until we know the results, but more than anything, i hope that when we win that we still stop and reflect on what we did well and where we can improve. >> cnn out with a new poll yesterday, harris has a narrow edge in michigan and wisconsin and she and trump remain tied in pennsylvania. this is with likely voters showing a tie vote in pennsylvania. in michigan, 48 of likely voters saying they would support the vice president. 43% for the former president, and 51-45 in wisconsin. what do you make of those pulling numbers? >> as i said, everything is within the margin of error. if you look at real clear politics, and so venue, trump up three, up one, thai, thai, trump of three, trump up one. you mentioned michigan. i've got wisconsin here, tie,

trump up one, trump up one, tie, tied, trump up two. this is literally reading off real clear politics. trump up one, trump up one, harris up five come harris of four. average-wise, he is up, but it is all within the margin of error so you can go find a poll that shows her up a couple of points, one with him up a couple of points. overall what you need to look for is the trend. where is the race going? the mistake i think a lot of people make especially in the media is they will look at one pole and say it is a snapshot, a photograph. part of what you need to know, it is like a snapshot of two cars going on the road. you don't know which one is overtaking the other, are they going the same speed? if you're going to cherry pick, where was that one week, two weeks, three weeks ago? that is what you need to start looking at.

is the trend looking in one direction or the other? host: pat in kentucky. caller: two things that i want to say. when kamala has his speeches, i don't hear her ever. she will always say the blacks are going to get the childcare. i've never heard her actually say the whites and the blacks. i'm doing it for them. i know she says americans. she always says i'm helping the blacks, so that concerns me. another thing, my question is if trump gets in there, will he take our social security or will he line us up like the jews and have the old people out? that is my question. guest: so let me say couple things.

number one with respect to the vice president's phrasing that you mentioned, the democratic party is built on a stitch work of coalitions. that is have a look at things. they look at different coalitions. young people, lgbtq, black and stitch people together as opposed to looking at, i think, the totality of americans and saying we are going to do this, this, and this. some people critique the republican message because they don't focus on particular groups. that is what makes us stronger, we believe that rising tide lifts all boats. that is how she views everything, constituencies. so that is why i think you hear the phraseology that she uses. plus the fact that they have a problem with that constituency. you are seeing younger black men in the polling supporting president trump. number two, president trump has committed to protecting and

preserving social security. i heard several pitches during my tenure. he is 100% committed to protecting social security, number one. for all the rhetoric out there, what makes this race historically unique is that it is not a hypothetical proposition of one candidate proposing this and the other one proposing that. look at their records. they both have been in office. if you like what kamala harris and the biden administration have done, vote for her. if you like these policies, if you like where the country is, if you like the economy and the broken border and the immigration, vote for her. if you look at president trump's record as president and what he did and what he got done, then vote for him. it's that simple. so if you are concerned about all of these scare tactics coming out from the left, just say to yourself one thing. did he do any of those things

during his four years as president? and number two, what with that record light under his tenure as president? if you don't like it, don't vote for him. but i think when most people contrast the four years of the trump and harris administrations, they will choose president trump. host: myrtle beach, south carolina. caller: thank you for having me. host: go ahead with your question or comment. caller: i am totally for trump. the way he talks, that is the way he was brought up. but kamala to me knows nothing about what is going on, letting all these people come over the borders. very tired of paying for them because i see them in the grocery lines. they have $1000 food stamps. i'm sitting behind them lucky to

have enough to pay for what i'm getting. i'm 74 years old. i bring home $1400 a month in social security, and as far as i'm concerned, she's the one that is telling a lot of allies and he is trying to back away from it. i don't understand why she keeps saying over and over the same things about her family. we all don't really care about that. host: let's pick up on your immigration,. why does this resonate? host: i'm sorry, what specific part? host: are comments about immigrants coming to the country, the border. guest: i would just say i think generally if you ask, we recognize how great our country is because of legal immigration. at some level if you are not

native american, you are in immigrant at some level. so the difference comes down to legal immigration. i don't think that you could talk about coming to the greatest country on earth and your first act is to break our laws. we are a nation of laws first and foremost. that is why so many people around the world do love us. but if you want to come to our country and you do so illegally, that doesn't really start you off on the right foot. our party supports illegal immigration and recognizing the important contribution that immigrants make to our country, our culture, our society. there is just no question we want it be legal. host: philadelphia. caller: good morning. how are you doing this morning? i've got three questions or comments i wanted to make. one is the price of groceries.

and then of course, about $90 for 10 items. stuff like that. and then my other question is why is kamala harris campaigning while the north koreans are in russia and are about to fight the ukrainians? i've known several presidents from the 20th century who would have stopped their campaign because it is practically over, go back to washington along with joe biden and try to figure out what is going on. that is my second question. why did she stop the campaign? that is the question we have. nobody really cares about it, they care about themselves. number three, i couldn't believe this. that when she says donald j.

trump inherited all his money, you know what he did with that money? he created jobs. he built manhattan, he built the bronx, he built the burroughs. he created construction companies. do you know how many people he employed alone in his hotel? host: sean spicer. guest: i feel like i am back at the podium. i wrote them down for you. groceries. one of the points that you bring up that is toward an is something that a lot of people in both the campaign world and the media world, the government will did wrong. your experience is exactly the one that matters. people will come out all the time and say there are new statistics on the economy, gdp is doing this, consumer confidence. the economy and personal safety are viscerally gut issues. if you go to the grocery store and have the experience that you had where you know that you are paying more for the cost of

certain items that you normally get better through the roof or more than you used to pay, it is personal to you. no one contained a government statistic says it is different. and that is what i think so many people get wrong about the economy as an issue in politics. however, it doesn't matter. on the north korea issue, here's the problem that kamala has. she's vice president. she really doesn't have the authority as vice president to stop anything. she could have spoken out about it, but at the end of the day, i don't know that that would have been a politically smart move. the problem that she faces is that on the one hand, they want to tender themselves to joe biden and say i was in the room on every major decision, i am a partner in this administration. from the jump, they named it the biden harris administration. president biden said she would be an equal partner. so it is hard to say i only partake in the good decisions or the good outcomes, i don't have the bad ones.

do your point, it is a very difficult political situation for her. i think these personal attacks on trump fall flat. if she wants to go there and attack how the drives as well and what he did with it, good on her. it is a waste of time, the narrative is set in. part of the reason donald trump ran for president in the first place is because he had a narrative as a very successful real estate mogul, television star, etc. so the idea that now you are going to throw a line out at the debate is going to be effective is kind of nonsensical. host: sean spicer, thank you very much for being part of 2024 coverage. we appreciate it. guest: you bet, happy halloween. host: same to you. when we come back, we will be joined by author and columnist jonathan alter, author of the new book "american reckoning: inside trump's trial and my

own." and then later policy issues like abortion rights, marijuana regulation and integration are in the ballot -- on the ballot in many states is election day. we take a closer look at which ones to watch. ♪ >> discover the heartbeat of democracy with voices 2024 as we engage voters ahead of election day asking why is it important to vote? >> i feel it is very important to vote so that we can take the proper candidate to lead the country. and whether you are not sure, you should definitely get out and vote.

>> i vote because my ancestors bled and died for me to vote. >> i'm voting this year because it is a civic responsibility. it is the most direct way that a citizen has to influence what goes on in the country. one of the most important elections of our lifetime. i know a lot of people say that about every election. i think it is important for everyone no matter how young or old to get out and vote and make your voice heard. >> voices 2024. the a part of the conversation. >> book tv every sunday on c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. here's a look at what is coming up this weekend. 6:30, this tee professor -- looks at the history of stores

and their role in american culture with his book the bookshop. at 8:00 p.m. eastern, john grisham and his co-author jim mccloskey share their book about the challenges of exonerating a person was wrongfully convicted. then at 10:00 p.m. eastern on afterwards, journalist lena selvagexains how a nearly forgotten lisaving healing virus could be groundbreaking in treating deadly infectious diseases with her book "the living medicine." she's interviewed by adriana rodriguez. watch book tv every sunday on c-span 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or wch online anytime at book tv.org. >> attention middle and high school students across america. it's time to make your voice heard. c-span studentcam documentary contest 2025 is here. this is your chance to create a documentary that can inspire

change, raise awareness and make an impact. your documentary should answer the question your message to the president, what issue is most important to you or your community? whether you are passionate about policy, the environment, or community stories. studentcam is your platform to share your message with the world. with $100,000 in prizes including a grand prize of $5,000, this is your opportunity to not only make an impact, but also be rewarded for your creativity and hard work. enter your submissions today. scan the code or visit studentcam.org to enter. washington journal continues. host: this morning with us is the author of a new book american reckoning, inside trump's trial and my own. before we get to your book,

let's begin with your column in the new york times yesterday. what if democrats win the white house and congress tuesday? your title is posed as a question. how do you answer it? >> just briefly, this is a piece about what would happen if the democrats swept. and you would get a lot of a kamala harris has promised for the middle class actually enacted into law. i go through the various legislative impediments, the filibuster and other things you would get. you would get the roe v. wade decision that used to be the law of the land, it would become law. so abortion would basically be off the table as an issue because congress would have passed a law returning us to the situation that we have before the dobbs decision in all these

concerns about women dying. not just concerns, women are dying because doctors are afraid in a number of states to provide them with medical care because of state laws that make it difficult for them to do so. all those concerns would go away on the subject of reproductive rights. but there's a whole series of other issues that relate to what was proposed. remember, her key line in the closing moments of the campaign is donald trump has an enemies list. i have a to do list. contrary to what the earlier caller said, this is not just for black people. that is a complete misrepresentation. it is for the american middle class indigo through better affordability at the grocery store and on housing with very

specific proposals for childcare, a child tax credit which would help basically all americans and left the child poverty rate in half. i could go one with the agenda, but you get the idea. basically, the democrats would not be able to go too far, and their proposals according to the wharton school where donald trump went, according to their calculations, harris's proposals would have only one fit of the impact on the deficit that trumps proposals would have. mostly because she would end these tax breaks for the very wealthy and use the money that was going to the very wealthy for some of these programs for the middle class. so that is what she is offering the country and we will see how people respond. >> democrats have a thin majority in the senate. one third of the senate is up in

this election. many are predicting that republicans flip the senate, they are then in control. with that unlikely scenario, why write about it? guest: i just want to give a sense of what could happen if ted cruz lost in texas. we simply don't know what is going to happen. i think all of this horserace coverage is at this point kind of a waste of time. nobody knows who's going to win this presidential election. anybody tell sure what is going to happen, don't listen to them. there are too many variables. it just doesn't make very many sense. polling is kind of broken in

this country. we heard earlier from sean spicer about the real clear politics average. those include a lot of republican sponsored polls. we simply don't know. i am much more focused on the states in the selection rather than the horserace, and the stakes here are immense. to understand them, just look at this morning's wall street journal. one of the most highly decorated and reviewed military officers this country has produced in a generation. he was responsible for killing osama bin laden. and he said that donald trump has the maturity of a 15-year-old boy who can't be trusted to be returned to power. what he is offering is with george washington specifically rejected when he established the

idea of the peaceful transfer of power. george washington was all about reaching out, not spreading hate. his farewell address warned against conmen. donald trump is a con man and a chaos agent. he was talking about is a great record in new york. i've lived in the new york area for 40 years. he didn't build new york. this company was put out of business and was ripping people off. he was employing illegal aliens in the construction of trump tower. not to mention was going on now.

if i could just add to general mcraven's voice. i think we all know that when general kelly, who is donald trump's chief of staff and general milley, head of the joint chiefs, they both knew the f-word, fascist, when describing donald trump. whether one thinks that goes too far or not, people can decide. but that is a very significant thing. when you have all these people who worked with trump who were coming out and saying he should not be returned to office. nikki haley just last night reiterated what she said during the primaries. she said i don't take anything back that i said during the primaries, and during the primaries she said he was dangerous. now for her own political reasons she's coming on board, but she stood behind what she said during the primaries which is what republicans privately know, he's dangerous.

and i would just as people, if the shoe was on the other foot, with say that back in the obama days that obama's chief of staff and the chair of the joint chiefs and the obama years, if they had both said barack obama is a fascist, would you have wanted to vote for him for reelection in 2012? of course not. the people around him are saying this man is dangerous, and we need to listen to that and have a real gut check before going in and voting. harris, you might agree or disagree with her policy, the biden administration didn't do enough on immigration in at 2021 and 2022. only now is it starting to come under control.

trump rejected a deal that was proposed by a conservative in the senate in the last year. you don't like harris on immigration, you think grocery prices are too high. even though she's promising to crack down on predatory pricing, which trump with all of his corporate connections has not done. but let's assume you agree more with trump on the issues just for the sake of argument. this is not about those issues. this is about who do we trust? it is about character over country. it is why so money republicans, not just liz cheney,. conservative, but many others have come together and they are shouting as loud as they can. this man is unstable, he is not

fit to be president. and i just want to add one more thing. i know you want to get to the calls, but i like to focus some on the cruelty. we don't want a cruel president. everybody has got their own example of what really upsets them, and mine comes from just the week before, when trump was talking on more than one occasion about the enemy from within. remember that? that is a stoleni -- joseph stalinist term. like when because people vermin. he was asked who is the enemy within, that he says is more dangerous than china or russia. the enemy from within. and he said that he would use the military or the national guard again. and the names he mentioned were adam schiff and "the --

pelosis." he wasn't just talking about nancy pelosi who he is very angry at because she helped talk joe biden into getting off the ticket, which i write about in my book. he wasn't just mad at nancy pelosi. he said the pelosis. nancy pelosi is married to a man named paul pelosi, who when he was 82 years old there was a break-in in their home in san francisco and a trump loyalist broke in and fractured his skull with a hammer. when he was still in the hospital, donald trump was laughing about it repeatedly, telling jokes, hatching conspiracy theories that made it seem as if it was paul pelosi's fault.

and now, years later this man who just happens to be married to nancy pelosi is the enemy within? any want to use the national guard, the military against paul pelosi? who is now 84 years old? this is sick stuff. we can have a person that sick, that cruel as our president. host: american reckoning: inside trump's trial. which trial are you talking about? guest: i was in the courtroom every day for the hush money felony trial in new york city in one of the most dramatic events i've ever covered watching that jury say guilty, guilty, guilty 34 times. just addressing some of the republicans and independents in the audience, i agree with former republican governor of arkansas asa hutchinson, a

former prosecutor, and he respects our criminal justice system, as i do. we cannot elect a convicted felon as president of the united states. he was convicted. we don't want to undermine our criminal justice system by having a felon be our president. host: and wendell sentencing happened in that case? guest: november 26. and basically if trump wins, it is likely that he would be sentenced to probation, and if he loses, most observers who cover this court and cover the new york criminal justice system say that there is at least a 50% chance the judge will sentence into a short-term. host: alabama, chuck,

independent. guest: doing well. caller: this is something that has always bothered me about especially biden. when he started his campaign, he brought up charlottesville. i read that whole transcript. journalists were asking him about monuments. he said there's good people on both sides about tearing down monuments. so either biden lied to us or he doesn't know what he's talking about. so when are people like c-span going to admit that there's people on both sides that he was talking about monuments? he wasn't talking about the kkk or whatever. it pisses me off. guest: you make a very good

point. if you look at the whole context, it is not as joe biden -- not as bad as joe biden was making it out to be. but joe biden does not on the ballot and there are a lot of other examples of donald trump spending time with nazis. he had dinner with two nazis. he doesn't say he regrets having dinner with them. in terms of race, i've been around long enough to remember the central park five. these were five black kids who were wrongly accused of raping a woman in central park and they went to prison for it and later, another person confessed to the crime. dna evidence cleared them. one of the central park five is now a very well-regarded member of the new york city answer, and donald trump wanted them executed and when told years

later they didn't commit these crimes, he doubled down on it because he never backs off anything. if he had his way, they would be dead now for a crime they didn't commit. and we could go on about a number of other things he's done. they were just flat out racist. and we could spend a lot of time talking about that. but the main thing is when you start to use hate, it is just not the american way for him to be rubbing these wounds raw over and over again. harris, whatever you think of her issues, she wants to turn the page, and something she said the other night was very important. she said donald trump wants to go after what he calls the

enemies from within. his political rivals. kamala harris wants to bring those rivals into the white house and work out compromises on the issues that face the american people. she's very focused on a different kind of future. do we really want people to go inflation was lower when trump was president? that is true, because we have these terrible supply interruptions during covid. never russia attacked ukraine, which by the way, trump doesn't care about. eastern europe, which would basically destroy nato, but when he said this, when russia did this, the price of wheat skyrocketing because russia and ukraine had control of a good chunk of the market. so there were a bunch of

external reasons for inflation. that sent inflation higher in other countries than in our own. having said that, let's say you blame biden for inflation. that's not really very significant. when you look at this as a choice between a standard issue democrat who believes in our system, peaceful transfer of power, basic respect for his arrival vs. an authoritarian who wants to model his presidency on strong men like those in hungary and russia. we don't want an american strongman. that is not the american way. and if you don't believe he wants to be a strong man, just listen to what he says. he talks over and over about retribution. he talks about suspending the constitution. he says he was joking but it is

a little hard to tell. he wants to be dictator for a day. that is not the american way. even if it was just one day, which it wouldn't be, of course. and i think everybody needs kind of a gut check before they go to the polls. this election is fundamentally not about higher prices at the supermarket or whether harris, who actually has a plan to do something, whether her plan is better than trump's, which is a 20% across-the-board tariff. either liberal or conservative, not a single one think that is a good idea because they say the cost, you would have what mark calls insane nation. all i'm saying is that the bigger issue is autocracy vs.

democracy. host: several people waiting for you. david in new york, independent. caller: hi. i just want to say one thing. when the election is getting bad and things are getting the bad, donald trump said they should go bankrupt. and then his that i do not like paying overtime and i do not like this nothing talking about leaving.

the garbage truck, he couldn't. host: got several things there. guest: he is too old if item with the carter said nobody over 80 should be serving as president. as far as what you said about trump wanting the auto industry to go bankrupt, that is just true. that was his position at the time. let them all go bankrupt. and more recently he said it doesn't take much skill to build a car. he was really missing autoworkers. he's pretending now that he is prolabor, but his administration was very anti-labor. people need to not look at his

publicity stunts like working at mcdonald's and working a garbage truck. the garbage thing, people forget it was trump who first used that word. he said that the people around harris were garbage. and then he talked about a trashcan nation. he's been talking down the united states. he's been very critical of labor. earlier we had a caller asking whether he would cut social security and medicare. trump has been trying to run away from this. this is something that flashes everything including social security and medicare. he said just the other day that -- would have a major position in his administration. he is the author of project 2025. jd vance wrote the introduction to a book by the current author

of project 2025. so they are very much on this anti-worker agenda that just helps their billionaire friends like elon musk. muska now wants to cut $2 trillion from the budget. every spending program in health, transportation. he wants to eliminate. obviously he would have a lot to say in a trump administration. do we really want a much greater share of trump's campaign expenditures, i think three times as much coming from republican billionaires than democratic billionaires. we would get trump running the government with fellow billionaires, and that is not good for america. host: joyce is a republican. caller: i am sorry that the hate

that you have for trump is ridiculous. most of the things you have said have already been debunked. guest: know they haven't, that is just factually inaccurate, ma'am. not a single thing i said has been debunked. i'm a journalist, i think everything i said is accurate. host: let finished. guest: my apologies. host: what is it that you are taking issue with, give us examples. caller: the first thing, the guy that had the hammer with pelosi, while he was in his shorts with his glass of liquor, he was from canada and he is not a trump supporter. guest: not true. caller: sir. guest: it's not true. he was a trump supporter, you can look it up on google. caller: i have, i have. guest: a lot of conspiracy

theories going around but if you actually try reliable sources, what you said isn't true, i'm sorry. host: a second example? caller: you have me so upset. did you know that kamala is a marxist? guest: she's not a marxist. caller: her dad wrote a book -- host: why do you think she is a marxist? caller: first of all, her father was a marxist. guest: so what? he hasn't been for 40 years. she doesn't have a good relationship with her father. she doesn't even have a good relationship with her father. you are going to slime her because of something her father wrote 40, 50 years ago? host: let joyce finish. guest: i'm sorry to interrupt you, go ahead. caller: she is a marxist, and tim walz has been investigated about his ties to the ccp. host: we will leave there, joyce.

guest: i'm sorry that i was jumping in on joyce, i apologize to joyce for that, i should have waited until she finished with her untrue conspiracy theories. none of what she said, unfortunately, as a journalist i try to look for facts, knocking receipt theories. thing that you read somewhere on the internet that are not true, try to look at facts. and on everything she said, it doesn't conform to the facts. tim walz is not a communist. when he started going to china some years ago, he came back very, very tough on the chinese communist regime when he was a member of the house of representatives. there's a lot out there that is going around, and i understand complaints about the mainstream media. we defend our talking about what is wrong with the media.

but if you actually go back to the facts, what joyce said and a lot of the other years the theories are just simple not true. host: have you respond to full to say you are a journalist that you are supporting the vice president? guest: for four years-opinion journalist i am paid to express my views which i hope are backed up by factual reporting. and i think colonists since the early 1990's, i'm not a reporter for the associated press with giving some kind of a straight music journalists come in different shade and i am an opinion journalist. host: what will you say to those who say that sounds like a contradiction, opinion journalist? guest: we've had that since the dawn of the republic.

to go back to the 18th century, when everything got started, newspapers those days were all very similar to what we have now . newspapers were party papers. much of early -- early journalism and the round all of our history had colonists or commentators. so this is a very old tradition journalism. and believe me, there are some really bad ones. there are also some really good ones. the difference is whether they have the fidelity to facts. when i express my opinions, i don't always succeed, but i try to back it up with verifiable facts. in one of the things that is unsettling about where we are is that i guess it would be

summarized by general patrick moynihan who was a very popular united states senator, very popular across the aisle. and he said everyone is entitled to their own opinion but they are not entitled to their own facts. it's when people start trafficking in lies, some of which are disinformation campaigns, then we get into an area where you have people who are, some things are not quite right. so there was an earlier caller who made a good point that what trump said about charlottesville was in some ways taken out of context. was not as bad as what joe biden said. but there's a huge amount of other things that trump has said that are simply disqualifying for him. not to mention that he sat in

his office on january 6 for close to two hours when the capital was under assault. it was beyond dereliction of duty. and then he tried to blame nancy pelosi for not calling out the national guard. that wasn't her job, it was his job as president to recognize that his people had gone too far, they were breaking into the capitol, assaulting police officers, and he just sat on his hands after having incited them to do so. january 6 by itself has so many republicans are saying is disqualifying. because the peaceful transfer of power is what separates our citizens and the rule of law not attacking judges or you don't like. the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power, of those are the foundations of our system. host: author and columnist, thank you for the conversation.

the book is american reckoning. inside trump's trial and my own. we will take a break and when we come back we will turn our attention to statewide ballot measures to keep an eye on this election day. we will have that conversation. we will be right back. ♪ >> american history tv saturdays on c-span two exploring the people and events that tell the american story. this weekend, the national constitution center in philadelphia awards ken burns his 2024 liberty medal for his body of work. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, watch historic presidential elections.

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keep up with the biggest events with live streams from floor proceedings to hearings at the u.s. congress. white house events, campaigns and more from the world of politics all at your fingertips. you can stay current with the latest episodes of washington journal and find scheduling information from c-span's tv network and radio plus a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. visit our website, c-span.org/c-span now. your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back discussing ballot initiatives. according to the ballot initiative strategy center there are 147 ballot measures on the ballot next tuesday in 41 states.

joining us is the founder and editor-in-chief of -- news. let's begin with abortion ballot measures. how many states have them and what do most of them do. guest: there are 10 states with abortion-related measures on the ballots. in all 10 states there is a measure to protect abortion rights. to codify it in state law. there is one state that also has a ballot measure restricting abortion rights and that's nebraska. they have dueling initiatives. one to codify abortion rights and one to restrict them further. the secretary of state has said if they both pass, of the most votes will supersede the other one. these abortion measures are interesting because in the two years since roe v. wade was struck down every time abortion rights or restrictions have been on the ballot the pro-abortion rights side of the question has won. i'm not just talking about california and vermont, talking

about ohio and then even some very conservative states like kansas and kentucky which rejected it last year that would roll back or restrict abortion rights. some of the key states that could be present for battleground states, arizona, nevada and florida. but those states all have abortion rights measures on the ballot. also some bluer states, colorado and maryland and then read states missouri, montana and nebraska. >> when you have these ballot initiatives related to abortion as they have since roe v. wade, which do they tend to help. >> there's not a lot of research whether or not ballot measures get people to the polls. there's only would -- only one good example when 11 states had measures on the ballots to ban same-sex marriage across the country in george w. bush's

reelection term. there was a scientist named todd to donovan who studied that and found the initiatives did not pull out a ton of people who might have otherwise stayed home to vote. but they pulled out a few tens of thousands in some swing states like ohio. ohio was the key to bush's reelection. this year though we will have a lot of states that are closer than that 100,000 votes in ohio so if abortion rights measures pullout say 5000 young women who might not have shown up to vote or young men for that matter. those who are probably more disposed to a democratic candidate, that 5000 votes could make the difference. host: here is an interesting article from the washington post, the women backing abortion referendum and trumpet. splitting their tickets. guest: some interesting game theory. i know a few democrats who are

worried about it. but if you show up to the polls and you support abortion rights, one of these amendments is a great way to make sure your official cannot restrict abortion rights. offering permission structure to vote in favor of abortion rights but in favor of a republican candidate who might not favor abortion rights. you are putting it in the constitution and then vote for whoever you like. host: what about this impacting the senate race in montana and the importance of this montana senate race? host: the u.s. senate is split 51-49 for democrats. they are likely to lose a seat in west virginia. if senator jon tester loses his reelection race in montana that is pretty much the ball game. it means republicans would control the next u.s. senate. the abortion rights measure is able to bring out a whole bunch of voters might not have shown up otherwise then it might help jon tester. he has never crossed 50% of the vote in any of his elections and

has usually been helped by a third-party candidate. a libertarian or something siphoning from the republican side. there is no such third-party candidate this time around. even with something like an abortion rights on the ballot. host: because he is in a red state. guest: the democrat in the reddest state. host: after the abortion initiative, what other initiatives are high profile that you are watching? host: let's start with -- guest: let's start with marijuana. a prominent issue on ballots. three states where it will be this year. florida, north dakota and south dakota. in a lot of the states where marijuana has been on the ballot , it has passed by pretty substantial margins. these three states will be a big challenge for legalization supporters. in florida, state law requires the 60% threshold.

so if it gets 50 plus one, no good. north dakota and south dakota have both defeated prior legalization measures with more than 50% of the vote. in all three of these cases, it is questionable whether or not they can pass legalization. even if they do, supporters then have a further challenge in that they are ready much running out of states where they can run a ballot initiative. not every state allows citizens to circulate a petition and get a measure on the ballot. so they would have to switch focus and pay attention to state legislators. only a small handful of legislators, new york and new jersey have passed these measures. politicians don't like voting in favor of marijuana. the governors of the first two states that legalized pot were not in favor. both pretty liberal democrats were not in favor of legalization. getting through the legislature

can be tricky. they have had success in florida , they will have to start with the politicians to get the other states on board with legalization. >> florida is interesting on the marijuana and abortion ballot initiatives because the governor ron desantis is campaigning hard against those initiatives. guest: he is literally running the campaign against those measures. the state department health a few weeks ago warns television stations not to run advertisements for the pro abortion-rights measure. saying they were inaccurate. a federal judge told him to stop doing that. but as i look at the campaign finance reports the campaigns against the abortion-rights measure and against the marijuana measure are predominantly being funded by ron desantis political campaign. it's a big run by his chief of staff. he is weighing in. >> politico says that his political future is at stake on

these initiatives. guest: i do not know about that. i feel like if desantis signed and abortion restriction measure if he wants to come back and run for president in 2028 he will point to that rather than the ballot measure. his political future is at stake. host: let's talk about noncitizen voting in the eight states that have that issue on the ballot. guest: those states are all led by republican state legislatures. this is another way measures can get to the ballot. it's not just circulating a petition and asking voters to sign it. legislatures can refer a question to the ballot. in these states, republican state legislatures have forwarded those measures to the ballot and what those measures would do would prevent noncitizen voting in state and local elections. noncitizen voting is already

illegal at the federal level. there are very few municipalities in california and vermont and maryland that allowed noncitizens to vote on local issues. school boards, city council and things like that. no state allows noncitizens to vote in -- state elections. these measures are effectively meant to prime voters like the abortion member -- prime voters to think about an issue that they want them to think about. they want these voters to be thinking about immigration as they have the ballot on the presidential race because that issue favors former president trump by a wide margin. again to reiterate that there is no noncitizen voting allowed in federal or statewide elections anywhere in the country. host: let's turn to our viewers and what they have to say. if you are in a state where you have voted or you plan to vote on one of the ballot initiatives or if there is another one you

want to bring out we want to hear from you this morning. catherine in michigan, republican. caller: good morning. i have a question and i hope you can answer it or tell me where i can get an answer. it's been brought to my attention most recently that our ballots are being taken out of the polls and counted in another building. i have had relatives. my father worked the polls and i can remember staying until 1:00 in the morning counting the ballots. now they are taking them off the premises and counting the votes and other places. host: i think you call your secretary of state to find out more about that. reid wilson here to talk about the ballot initiatives that

folks like you and others will be voting on when you vote for candidates this election cycle. ava in chicago. democratic caller. you are up. one last call. are you there? moving on. dave in las vegas. independent. caller: i've got a question for him. when trump tried to overthrow the government and wants to get rid of the constitution, does that make -- he is definitely authoritarian -- people call other people communists but he is definitely a communist. how can he get away with 34 felonies, sexually assaulting a woman and all of this stuff and people vote for him. host: dave in las vegas. i have a text here from a viewer.

california independent v mr. wilson familiar proposition 36 in california. it's going to win by over 70% and re-criminalizes petty theft crimes. >> this is an interesting conversation that's been happening. i should also say california is the home of the most expensive ballot measures in every election. some of these can get up to -- there was a sports betting measuring california a couple years ago that combined cost half $1 billion. host: the campaign for it they spent that amount of mine -- money? guest: there were several ballot initiatives all funded by different groups that backed sports betting that was run by themselves. the big guys, and local governments all had their own initiatives. spending a total of half $1 billion and everybody's initiative lost. big money doesn't always win

campaigns. prop 36 would repeal a criminal justice reform measure close to a decade ago that lowered the penalties for some crimes. now the focus is returned to retail theft and you see these videos on local news about smash and grab invasions of luxury goods stores and things like that. california voters are being asked to repeal that and reinstate some of the higher penalties. the legislature is working on its own plan to raise penalties for some of these crimes. but it is very popular in california and is probably get a pass. i don't think he is terribly far off there. i think this underscores a point about ballot measures. the average voter does not conform neatly into the policy verticals of the republican or democratic party.

we pick and choose. we want -- maybe we favor this thing democrats like and this thing republicans like. and so in a very red state or a very blue state, ballot measures are away the minority party can get one of their issues on the ballot and pass it despite a reluctant legislature that is never going to bring it up. the ballot initiative is the way western states got out from under the control of the robber barons. this is why i love talking about this. it shows the nuance of american politics in a way we don't normally see. >> here is another viewer. diane in new jersey. the bill was written by a private company and has restrictions for other growers. >> i am not saying she is wrong in that assertion but i will say that initiative is being funded almost entirely by a company

which is one of the largest pot producers in america. they are based in florida and have a big part of the florida medical marijuana market. they presumably have a big part of the recreational marijuana. in this underscores another point about ballot initiatives. u.s. a citizen can go put forward a ballot measure that favors your position. so can a big company and so can an interest group pushing a ballot measure. i am reminded of the legalization marijuana measure that came up in ohio a number of years ago. it was largely backed by venture capitalist firms in new york who wanted a monopoly on the ohio marijuana market which would have been lucrative for them. they ran it almost like a vc fund. it was not a well-run campaign. they got --

it was very bizarre. they lost. and ohio subsequently passed a different measure a couple years later. this underscores the point and i talked about the california measure and now we have this truly company in florida. big corporations can use the ballot initiative and they can do it in a way that benefits themselves financially. >> jones says please address florida's amendment 12 regarding hunting and fishing. >> if i am not mistaken this is a hunting and fishing -- the right to hunt and fish, a measure been on the ballot in a number of states and they have passed by huge margins. in most states. especially with traditions outdoors. >> lawrenceville georgia, charles, democratic caller. talking about ballot initiatives. >> good morning. my question is how is it that a

convicted felon is able to legally run in a presidential election. >> i will tell you he was convicted of a felony at the state level and beyond that i am not a legal expert. i'm to stick to these ballot measures. jordan was one of the first -- they were one of the first states to hold a ballot measure in 1789. ballot measures have been around for a long time. >> do any statesave ballot measures relaxing regulations on child labor, a right to work for less states have already lost children on this. >> i am not familiar with relaxing standards on child labor. the whole thing made through some state legislatures in recent years especially in ohio, florida. i'm going to blank on the rest of the states. relaxing some standards on child labor has made it through state legislatures. i have not seen any on the ballot. >> which states do not allow

ballot initiatives and why? >> it's about half the states. mostly i think it's fair to say the midwest and the south. a lot of it is the progressive era issues ushered in the modern idea of ballot measures as ways to influence public policy. people like the california governor was a big supporter of direct democracy and so a lot of states adopted those rules early on. eastern states typically solidified their political identities 100 years before that when voting on a ballot measure -- voting on anything was a big deal and we have elections on tuesdays because that was market day and things like that. ballot measures are more modern but not terribly modern >> way of conducting policy. thoughts on massachusetts question number five regarding minimum wage workers.

how this has succeeded in other states. guest: minimum wage is on the ballot in five states this year. california to $18 and in massachusetts and arizona the measures have to do with how much you pay a tip to worker. that is to say a restaurant server who under the state law in most states can make less than minimum wage. on the presumption that the tips would make up the difference on an hourly basis. i have not seen measures are dealing with tip workers in the past but betting against a raise on the minimum wage is a bad back. since 2000, ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage in states across the country. in the reddest and bluest, every single one has passed. there is not a single minimum

wage hike that has not passed since the turn-of-the-century. betting against minimum wage hikes is not good. host: people want to dig into ballot initiatives, what will they find there? guest: we have a preview of the ballot initiatives this year on our site this morning. we also are the only nonpartisan area that includes state legislatures at a time when congress is so broken and dysfunctional the states are stepping up and taking on public policy. it should be the purview of the feds. the states are stepping in. same thing on issues like artificial intelligence and data privacy and nuclear energy. the federal government isn't doing things, the states are stepping up. host: you are attracting legislation at the state level. how are you able to do that. guest: we read up on newspapers every day and we focus a lot of

bill filings. our theory is state legislatures are not silos. we had calls from nevada today. what happened in carson city or from georgia. they do not stay there. these legislatures are looking across the country to their friends and colleagues in other states to get their next idea. if you see an issue that pops up in sacramento, albany or austin it will show up in 25 states next year and the year after that. considering the bills over the last couple of years to restrict transgender rights in a lot of states. you might recall that bill came up in north carolina about a decade ago and the fervor was incredible. everybody screamed about it and made a big deal in north carolina repealed the bill. when it comes up in 25 states you cannot focus that attention and that pressure on all of those states. when democrats and republicans are saying is if they shared is

passing quickly but a whole bunch of states can set the direction for federal policy before congress gets in gear to elect a speaker. host: in the dutch in massachusetts with the question there's a ballot initiative not having standardized test for graduate high schoolers. how many states have a test requirement to graduate high school. guest: i know there has been a push to require passage of the american civics test with aspiring citizen would have to take to be, -- become a citizen. there's a lot of pushes for that. i don't know about the massachusetts one. i think it is just a pretty standard test. we campaigned to repeal -- to take it out of the requirements. it is being funded largely by teachers union. the campaign to reject the ballot measure is being funded

by michael bloomberg. the campaign in massachusetts that i am more interested in is the ballot measure that would legalize mushrooms. it's been tried in a few states. we will see how it does in massachusetts. host: property taxes in colorado. guest: a lot of property tax bills in states across the country. the specifics of the colorado one elude me but the point is this is a way a lot of those interest groups can get measures on the ballot create real havoc with state budgets. there is one measure in north dakota this year, i hope i am not misspeaking. that would effectively repeal property taxes. and the hit you can imagine to

the state budget that that would do even in a republican state. eliminating something altogether that's going up blow a hole in the budget. we have seen what legislators will do about that. presumably they would have to raise other types of taxes. tax fights are common at the ballot box. i'm from washington state and about 30 years ago there was a ballot measure to set the limits of car tabs when they were getting up to 600 or $700. and it caused all kinds of havoc on the state budget. and that's what these can do. it is interesting to note that the people who write these are the lawyers and supporters of whatever issue they are paying attention to. it's not the legislators who might -- who the office of legislative services might take more time to see how a measure interacts with other parts of the state law.

sometimes a measure passes and people realize they wrote it very badly. >> on election day you will be watching legislatures and which party controls legislatures at the state level. where -- what should our viewers be watching. guest: you will not be surprised there is a lot of overlap between presidential battleground states and legislatures that are up for grabs. a very narrow republican majority they are trying to play defense there. democrats making gains around phoenix and tucson into yuma areas like that. in michigan and minnesota. two states that flipped blue in the 2022 midterm elections. republicans are trying to win back control and both of those states. minnesota only has one state senate race up this year. that's probably going to stay in their control but the house in both chambers are up for grabs in minnesota and michigan.

minnesota not really a swing state but narrowly divided legislature. new hampshire is another place where republicans are playing defense. they hold a narrow majority in the state senate. then they hold a majority in the state house but there are 400 seats in the new hampshire state house. i am only kind of joking about that. but the state legislature in new hampshire is so many people but we are knocking to know who controls it for quite a long time. the last thing i will point to is the one state in america where the legislative chambers are divided and that is pennsylvania. republicans controlled the state senate and democrats control the statehouse by a single vote. they think the house is more vulnerable than the senate. democrats over the last couple of days they sort of think both sides will hold and they will continue to have that republican senate and democratic house in pennsylvania. host: democratic caller. caller: thanks for taking my call.

just had a general comment. at least here in wisconsin the battleground initiatives are worded in such an intentionally misleading way i just would really like there to be -- if it could be standardized somehow to eliminate the confusing wording of those initiatives. guest: this is something we have seen in states across the country where the ballot initiative process is a process. it is a long one. it starts with drafting a bill and in some states the secretary of state has to approve that language or the attorney general has to make sure it's not unconstitutional. then you collect all the signatures and it goes to a ballot board where there are all these different steps. and what we have seen is a lot of opponents of some of these measures have drafted or sort of taken a section of that process and used it to put a thumb on

the scale. i am not up on any wisconsin examples, but the best example is in ohio where issue one is on the ballot which would reform the way the state draws its political boundaries. right now those lines are drawn by a panel of politicians and because of who controls what office, republicans control that process now. the issue would change that process to allow a panel to draw new district lines and vote on them. the state ballot board which is headed by the secretary of state, a republican. changed the wording of how that would be presented to voters to say that the measure would require the new citizen panel to gerrymander. gerrymander is a really loaded word and is something i think supporters of this measure would say we are trying to eliminate.

but the ballot board wrote their ballot description, it was challenged in court with a mixed ruling from the state supreme court. this has been a complaint in a lot of states that somebody along the line is putting a thumb on the scale whether it is an attorney general or ballot board or the secretary of state. putting their thumb on the scale to try to influence the way people see these initiatives. host: lynn in oregon wants to know aallot measures, explain rank-choice voting and where else is it an issue. >> is the idea that when you go into a ballot box you can pick multiple candidates. i can pick greta as my number one candidate and john as my number two. host: definitely. guest: i should have reversed those because now i'm going to eliminate you from the process. if the first choice finishes at the back of the pack then my

vote is reallocated to my second choice. my second choice is eliminated it is real wish -- it is reallocated to my third choice until one candidate has enough votes. it just incentivizes extremist candidates and incentivizes candidates to build the broadest possible coalition. if you are a democrat, to go out and do feel to independents and republicans. because you need them to rank you high on their list. the theory is a broader coalition and a more positive campaign. if you are the negative guy no one is going to rank you higher. on rank-choice voting there are a few states that have implemented it already. now it is on the ballot in a record number of states. oregon, colorado, idaho and nevada. interestingly enough, opponents are trying to appeal the

rank-choice voting system that came up. it is an intriguing sort of way that voters are trying to change the way their own elections take place and you can point to the ohio issue, some other states arizona and south dakota and montana where they try to eliminate partisan primaries so independent voters could vote for a democrat for the u.s. senate and republican for the house, libertarian for secretary of state however it may happen to be. this is an interesting way of letting voters taking control of their own voting system. we will see if it passes. there have been some pretty strong campaigns. the people who run the strongest campaigns against rank-choice voting are the parties themselves so if you muck around washington dc you see some no on initiative three. those are paid for by the d.c. democratic party. the parties do not want to give up control. host: in alaska the effort to

repeal that. guest: that's the republicans largely behind that because in the first time the rank-choice voting took place, the democratic candidate for u.s. house seat ended up outlasting the two republicans in the race. former governor sailor sarah palin and republicans blamed rank-choice voting for her winning, it's not quite the way it works but they lost the u.s. house seat and want to appeal the system. caller: good morning. i wanted to give a little history and give my opinion. florida went 60% ballot initiative margins because we almost bankrupted the state with a high-speed rail that sounds popular and it was going to bankrupt those states and ballot initiatives are anti-american.

they went through a long process to craft the constitution in a small power republican form of government. now we are trying to do government with no debate, no checks and balances and i think it is dangerous and i urge everybody to vote no on every initiative. host: interesting call. guest: i do not think there is no debate. in florida there are several ballot measures that are attracting $100 million in spending this year. anybody can debate on that and vote on that and read the newspaper and be for or against. ballot initiatives, this is my perspective as a westerner. ballot initiatives play a huge important role in modern america. sometimes they get them wrong. host: that's a part of democracy. tracking ballot if initiatives and legislation at the state level.

go to pleura bus -- pluribus news. thank you for the conversation. we will take a break and when we come back we will return to the campaign trail with five days to go until electionaye want your thoughts on the latest fr these candidates. we will be right back. ♪ >> take the c-span novel -- mobile video app with you. catch live updates from the presidential race and stay on top of key state races that could shift the balance of congress. no pundits, no spam, just the candidates, the results and you.

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assertion that he was the shooter and the two other people, not our clients committed the crime. host: sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen to all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. >> c-spanshop.org is c-span's online store. browse through our latest collection of products, apparel, books and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan. every purchase helps support our nonprofit operation. shop now or any time at c-spanshop.org. >> washington journal continues. host: c-span's campaign 2024

coverage continues today. we continue here on the washington journal with a conversation about the latest from the campaign trail. the candidates will be back out talking to voters today. we will have live coverage of their remarks on c-span1 and to. let's begin with jdance, he will be in high point north carolina. you be able to watch that at 10:30 a. etern time on c-span as well as r ee video mobile app c-span now and online at c-span.org. the governor of minnesota tim walz will spe a11:00 a.m. eastern time ipesylvania. our coverage on television is c-span two live there and on the app. the vice president will be in reno, nevada today.

we will have live coverage on c-span two at 00.m. eastern time. so rally in las vegas with j. lo. the former president has three stops today. we have covera of that 2:00 p.m. eastern time in albuquerque, new mexico. and at 6:30 p.m. in henderson, nevada. the former president they are. our coverage on c-span and in aron 10:00 p.m. eastern time and we will have coverage of that on c-span two. all the campaign covered with the rallies and get out the vote remarks can be found online at c-span.org. you can watch our live coverage and you can watch our coverage on our free video mobile app. c-span now. we will continue to be live with five days to go until election day here at c-span. today, tomorrow through the weekend and on monday.

watch our coverage on c-span 1 and 2. and on our digital platforms as well. connecticut, you are supporting the harris-walz ticket. good, share your thoughts with us. >> i am and i watch her program a lot. over a. of years and i support kamala and i would have even supported biden but he very -- she just overqualified for that position. and i watch what the trump people are saying and some people will call and say really nice things and know what's going on but something is mentally wrong with trump. i watch his rallies to see what he is going to say.

and him wearing, people to take out the trash. wearing their jacket. it is crazy. he is saying and doing some sick stuff. and all of the things that he's done he lost that. you know that woman that he assaulted physically assaulted, i found out yesterday and i won't -- exactly what he did to that lady in that store. and i am asking women how we can feel that that happened to you or happened to your daughter or whatever. he is sick. host: we are going to go on to tony who was supporting the former president and his running mate jd vance in texas. guest: good morning. i would like to first say to all

the veterans and active service members and first responders thank you for your service. on march 3, 2016 you did a show with two congressmen, one republican and one a democrat. the democrat was tim walz. you introduced him as the command sergeant major he acknowledges he shakes his head yes. the second thing he served in afghanistan. he acknowledges yes to you. those two acknowledgments were lies. there was a report that came out last month, representative loudermilk i believe that's his name came out with a report last month about general milley overheard trump saying to one of the members of the pentagon to make sure that he has either a national guard or the army there for january 6. i had never heard anything.

someone called in and spoke to john about it but nothing has come about it. never bringing up that report. number three which is my last thing. ms. harris she keeps talking about her prosecution in the past. let me get some people some insight. it was a great journalist michael resendez from the associated press. two-time pulitzer award journalist and investigative journalist. reporting that she never prosecuted the catholic priests for sexual abuse. he came out, corruption in politics ok. i've called in to times already asking to do a book on biden. biden is not running this time. one book is by the stenographer, the other one was by ben.

could you do that book finally? thank you and have a good day. host: john in illinois -- josh in illinois supporting the president. -- the former president. caller: it's really important subject for everyone and nobody's really talk about it. i want to talk about social security. first off, anybody that makes over $165,000 after that 106 the $5,000, like trump or vivek. anybody that makes over that amount does not pay into social security anymore out of their income. they can make millions of dollars and only pay 100 65 thousand dollars worth of income into social security. second of all, trump wants to cut taxes on social security. that's all the tax cuts for the

rich. anybody right now that is collecting social security that's not -- does not pay taxes on the social security. host: let's go to lynette in richmond virginia. your turn. >> i was trying to get on when jonathan was on there. but he's gone now. i will still make my comment. he made a comment about trump trying to get the central park five murdered or the death penalty and i do not agree with that. i am african-american, i did vote for trump this time. this is my first time. i would hope greta that it any time somebody mentions the central park five on your show and even your other hosts if they mention the central park five, please ask them did you read the article. the article was saying that

people that murder should -- that they should bring back the death penalty. first of all nobody was murdered so how did donald trump by placing this ad, how is the saying that they should get the death penalty. nobody was murdered. a lady was attacked in the park. nobody was murdered. but these five for some reason admitted to attacking her. it comes out later, years later after they went to jail that they did not do this, but the point is donald trump was not trying to get them the death penalty. host: got it. didi is in georgia. undecided. why are you still undecided? caller: i made a decision but it won't be for either one of these guys. host: ok. caller: people have failed to use their insight and look into the history of what's going on.

and the track record of both of them is just abominable what's going on. let me go back to the joke that this so-called comedian made about puerto rico as a garbage island. the real island floating garbage, do you remember when all of those barges that were pushed out of the hudson river back into the ocean carrying tons and tons of filthy garbage that is still floating around out there. being ignored by these politicians that have the power to make those decisions to

poison our atmosphere, our water and now our minds. host: the candidates are making their closing argument hoping to convince people who are undecided to vote for them. let's listen to a little bit of what the vice president had to say at one of her rallies in north carolina as part of her closing argument. [video clip] >> and here is my pledge to you. as your president, i pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to the challenges you face. [applause] v.p. harris: i am not looking to score political points i am looking to make progress. and i pledge to you, i will listen to experts, i will listen

to those impacted by the decisions i make. and to people who disagree with me. [applause] v.p. harris: and importantly -- and -- [chanting] [applause] v.p. harris: this is the thing. we are actually fighting for our democracy. [applause] and unlike donald trump, i do not believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. host: that was the vice

president in north carolina as part of her closing argument talking about unity with protesters there at her rally. an update to the programming, our campaign coverage on c-sn. here is a list of what you can find on c-span. jd vance in high point, north carolina at 10:30. kamala harris in arizona at 4:20 p.m. eastern time. at 6:30 p.m. eastern we will have trump's comments from henderson, neva. at 11:00 we will bring you the vice presidentn las vegas for her rally there. you can go to our website, c-span.org for our coverage on c-span two and you can go to our free video mobile app and you can see it all there. for c-span 2, 11:00 a.m. eastern time we will cover the minnesota governor in bucks county, pennsylvania.

2:00 p.m. eastern time we will ve the former president's comments in w mexico. then the vice presidential remarks in reno, nevad and then the former president's rally in penix, arizona at 10:45 p.m. eastern time. you can be flipping back and forth between c-span and c-span 2 throughout the day for our live campaign coverage or find it on the go with our free video mobile app. c-span now or online at c-span.org. rick in new york. are you voting on election day? >> i definitely am. i was only considering not voting for at the time biden, and now harris and tim walz only because they keep shipping 2000 pound bombs to israel and they kill 50,000 to 100,000

palestinians that are innocence, but i am going to vote for harris because the other option is worse. more people would die in a variety of different ways. i have two quick things to add that would help our election a great deal and i was looking at putting it on when the gentleman was talking about state ballots. i don't know how to get this on a national ballot but if we can get rid of gerrymandering and the electoral college, our country would be in great shape and that was my comments. >> linda in monroe, north carolina. good morning. what are your thoughts on campaign 2024. >> good morning. first off, batman that reported you had on this morning.

he is victory all, he is spewing out lies. and during the trump campaign i will tell you i could at least buy groceries. i'm not able to work. and under the biden harris campaign, i don't buy groceries anymore. since they have been president there has been a doom and gloom that has spilled over most everybody, especially senior citizens. the illegals across the border killing our women and our children and people are still going to vote for them i cannot believe it. there are nothing -- let me finish. what kamala harris has to run on is a complete 180, she is wishy-washy. she is running on nothing but popcorn and abortion and if you

want to say abortion you might as well say murder. host: i'm going to go to glenn in illinois supporting the harris-walz ticket. your comments real quick. >> good morning. it's got to be biden harris all the way and get rid of trump and that bunch. give me -- jd vance is can end up president when trump takes office. that's all. host: let's go to dennis in virginia. >> good morning. i want to get right to the subject. leadership back in the white house. we do not have any leadership for the last four years. for example a couple weeks ago biden was asked do you know what the plans are that israel has and he says yes i do. the next week the newspaper says

white house leaks plans that the idf has for ron and then is represented of, zone and says well look, we are sorry folks. we will investigate. we have had prices that have been escalating -- crises that have been escalating to the last four years and now they are trying to discourage those by rating the strategic oil reserves. we know groceries arrive at the grocery store by gasoline vehicles and therefore the prices in the grocery store are higher. gasoline is ridiculous compared to what i paid four years ago. host: i'm going to go to lewis in kansas city, missouri supporting the vice president. >> hello, thank you. thank you for having me on. i'm here in the midwest and i am

very pro-harris. and i am excited because i think we should of had a woman president for a very long time. -- should have had a woman president for a long time. anyone that can buy groceries now need to look at who was president before our current one. a president helps supports policies. i cannot think of one policy that trump has named that is supportive. i do not think he honestly knows how to read but when you listen to what harris is talking about she goes down to the nitty-gritty and does the work and is focused on outside influences. i feel like her stances are big on what she is listening to. host: let me get to richard in massachusetts. guest: hello. caller: --caller: caller: hello. caller:host: how do you plan to vote?

caller: for harris. a couple callers they are talking about social security. my social security. i've gotten about 19% raise in the last four years that keeps up with inflation. i checked the prices out there. i get things are on sale, i am better off. now i can get 5% on my cd. i'm getting $5,000 more a year on that. things about climate. climate change seems to be out of the conversation. north carolina got wiped out by climate change. under trump he says it's a big hoax. climate change is probably the biggest thing that's going to happen in our country in the next 10 or 20 years. then they're talking about his tariffs. you can put so many people out of work, trump will be out of business because people can afford things so half the

products won't be shipped. host: all right richard. i want to get in gilbert who is in toledo, ohio. caller: i'm going to vote for him only because i'm using pure common sense. i did not pay that much in groceries for the last four years. i can choose from either one of them they both spent four years controlling this country and i enjoy being able to save money while trump was in office for four years. and my father became a citizen at 58 and this immigration is ridiculoushost: with five days o before election day, we hope you can watch c-span's live coverage of the candidates on the trail. you can find it on c-span,

c-span2, c-span.org, and our free mobile app, c-span now. we continue our coverage tomorrow morning with another conversation with all of you on the washington journal. ♪ >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded by these television companies and more, including mediacom. >> nearly 30 years ago mediacom was founded on a powerful idea, cutting edge broadband to underserved communities. connected 850,000. our team broke speed barriers, delivered one gig speed to every customer, led the way in

developing a 10 g platform. with mediacom mobile, offering the best most reliable network on the go. mediacom, decades of education, delivering, decades ahea >> mediacom supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> our live campaign coverage continues on c-span, with republican vice presidential nominee jd vance holding a town hall with voters at town hall university in north carolin scheduled to get underway at 10:30 a.m. etern. mocratic presidential nominee kamala harris at 4:30. henderson, nevada at 6:30 for a rally with republican presidential nominee donald trump. at 11: 45, vice president harris will be joined by jennifer lopez for an event near las vegas. on c-span 2, more fromhe

candidates, including democratic vice presidential nominee tim walz speaking to voters in bucks county, pennsylvania outside o philadelphia at 11:00 a.m. eastern. donald trump will make a stop in albuquerque, new mexico. vice president harris in no, nevada before turning to the trump campaign lawyer the former prident will hold a rally with tucker carlson in phoenix. you can also watch our live coverage on c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org. >> michigan democratic senator gary peters sat down with jonathan capehart of the "washington post" about the 2024 election. what the democratic senatorial campaign committee was doing to ensure that their candidates are elected in states like ohio and montana. he also discussed how ballot initiatives in florida regarding abortion and