♪ host: good morning. it is thursday, december 5. the house and senate our meeting today. we begin with the nomination of pete hegseth as secretary of defense. yesterday he met with republican senators and vowed not to back

down from a confirmation fight. misconduct allegations have melted in the press and president-elect trump is considering other options. we are putting the question to you. do you think pete hegseth should be the next secretary of defense? phone lines split by political parties. republicans it is (202) 748-8001 . democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can call in if you are active or retired military. the special line for you, (202) 488-8003. that is also the number you can send a text. catch up with us on social media. x, @cspanwj. facebook, facebook.com/cspan. a good thursday morning to you. start calling in now. some headlines today on the nomination of pete hegseth. this is the washington post.

allegations of excessive drinking have shadowed hegseth. this is from the washington times. senators await more information on hegseth. defense no many valves not to drink. from the new york times, hegseth asserts he will not give up. making the assertion both in appearances in the media and in an op-ed in the wall street journal yesterday. here is part of whatth wrote. "the press has been ng anonymous story after anonymous story to tear me down. takedown.nufactured media they ignored the legions of people who speak on my behalf. they need to create a bogeyman because they believe i threatened their institutional insanity. i have never backed down from a fight and will not back wn from this one. i amraful president-elect

trump chose me to lead the defense department and i look forward to an honest confirmation hearing, not a show trial in the press." one of those stingless senators he met with yesterday -- distinguished senators was kevin cramer of north dakota. he spoke after that meeting with hegseth. [video] >> i give him the benefit of the doubt. i am ready to be supportive of getting him to that point. i am ready to get him in front of the committee. not everyone on the committee is as friendly as i am. there is no one on the committee who has not earned our respect. there are people like joni ernst and tammy duckworth who have earned more than i will ever earn given their history. i was impressed, quite honestly. i see no reason to not be supportive of him. >> is he currently drinking or

just saying he's not going to drink alcohol? >> i did not ask him if he is drinking. i was looking for that he will not touch alcohol and he would be ready for a phone call at 3:00 in the morning. >> i ask to be clear. -- >> i asked a different question. i don't recall he said he wasn't but that was not my concern. i believe him. we are not there yet. i see no reason not to support him. we will see what else happens. i want to be supportive. i wanted to be supportive from the very beginning. the allegations are serious.

if they remain serious allegations that cannot be verified from anonymous sources, then that is what they will end up being. host: kevin cramer yesterday on capitol hill. another one of the members pete hegseth met with yesterday. joni ernst of iowa, a veteran, has worked on sexual assault issues in the military. "i appreciate his service to our country, something we both share. we had a frank and thorough conversation. " this comes as reports, including the wall street journal, new york times, that donald trump is considering other replacement nominees for pete hegseth, particularly ron desantis emerging yesterday according to several sources. we are asking you do you think

pete hegseth should be concerned -- confirmed as defense secretary? we will take a look at that special line for active and retired military. that number is (202) 488-8003. we will start in cleveland. william, republican. caller: good morning, sir. i wanted to say it's very important we have a person who will represent as a military representative for our country. someone who was a veteran and has military experience. as well as --whether it is pete hegseth or not, i can't think of her name. she was from hawaii. i think she was a veteran also, who also would have made a very good person to be assigned to

that post. host: are you talking about toll see gabbert -- tulsi gabbard? caller: yes. host: ron desantis, navy veteran. do you think he would be a better defense secretary than pete hegseth? caller: well, to be honest with you, i could not say. with regard to what branch of service or anything like that, i believe that hands-on experience , living that life prior to your political career that you will have a better understanding of how the military functions. we have to get rid of that crt and dei because that was garbage. it was not necessary when i served and i don't see a need for it now. those things are driving people

from enlisting. host: when and where did you serve? caller: -- to be a representative and as a secretary of defense. host: when and where did you serve, william? caller: the seventh infantry division under the reagan administration. reconnaissance scout radio operator. host: thank you for that call from cleveland. alexandria, indiana. steve on the line for republicans. caller: i think pete would be a great pick for this job. he is highly intelligent. i have been watching him on the news. he would be qualified for the job. he's probably overqualified for it and that is why they don't

want -- they bring up these issues because they know he will be good for it. the democrats definitely afraid of him getting in because he will shake up the bush and get things done. host: this is pete hegseth's resume. cohost of fox and friends we can. former army national guard officer. he served in afghanistan, iraq, and want on, bay, cuba -- guantanamo bay, cuba. ceo of veterans for america. former director of vets for freedom. those have come in question and reports that have come up since his nomination. he graduated from princeton university and harvard's jfk school of government.

do you think he should be secretary of defense? is meetings continue -- his meetings continue. taking your phone calls on the washington journal. glenn in florida, democrat. caller: how are you doing? this guy is completely unqualified to do his job. we are not talking about his record as a military officer. he was a platoon leader. that has 30 to 35 soldiers. he has never been a command, never been a company commander or a major detachment commander. he does not have the experience. if you look at the two bronze stars, you get those for doing a tour of duty in a war zone. i have known a lot of guys that got those. they didn't do anything spectacular. that is what you get if you are an interesting officer --

infantry officer. if he has an alcohol problem, most go to rehab and most don't get promoted. i don't know what they are talking about. he can't lead a bunch of four-star generals and admirals in the military across the board. he does not have the level of expertise as a military officer to make it happen. he was a platoon leader. host: did you serve in the military? caller: yes, i did. i served overseas in germany with the first infantry division. i spent 12 years there. i know exactly what he doesn't know. he doesn't know as i do because he's never been to that level of expertise. you talking about a defense secretary and you are replacing a four-star general with this guy? how was he going to motivate troops when he doesn't have an

idea. he wasn't even a company commander. he was with the national guard, a part-time soldier. not full-time. host: rafael, frederick, maryland, the line for active and retired military. caller: yes, i just retired. it is interesting how people think when someone serves in the military they are qualified to -- that is not how it works. this guy with his record would have been kicked out of the military. i don't see how he becomes defense secretary. it is a disgrace to all veterans. that is what i have to say. host: why is it a disgrace? caller: when people have to serve there is a moral standard. they have to be leaders that

become role models that we can look up to. it is one of the criteria. look at all the things coming out. i hope they are not true, but if it is true, it is not representative. there are qualified people who can do this job. let's put politics aside and look at america. host: rafael in maryland. more from pete hegseth's op-ed in the washington journal. "i faced fire before and i will not back down. i have been through combat tours, job changes, divorces and family challenges. yes, i love my mom very much and she loves me -- referring to the reporting on that email in which his mother was taking him to task on his treatment of women from back in 2018. she has since walked back the imo. the report -- that email.

"i have led with honesty, integrity and passion. many veterans never find their purpose and succumb to the bottle, depression or suicide. i have lived it. by the grace of god i took another path. my lord and savior jesus christ has restored my life and i was saved by his grace." pete hegseth saying he will not back down from this confirmation fight. reporting yesterday that donald trump is considering other options, specifically ron desantis. the editorial board of the washington post today takes a look at other options, as they save better options for defense secretary in their lead editorial. other options that they write about include former congress been michael wall of florida. they write he would be a solid choice for defense secretary. other names include bill hagerty of tennessee, wesley hunt of

texas. one day they write trump has been floating is governor ron desantis. a navy lawyer before running for congress. he has the requisite experience and relishes the cultural battles mr. trump apparently wants mr. hegseth to fight. he asserts independence at time which is why we would be surprised if mr. trump him such an important role. for all of our disagreements with him on policy, he would be a far better choice than mr. hegseth and probably could be confirmed barring new information during the confirmation process. this is melissa, independent. lake charles, louisiana. caller: good morning america. i am all for pete. i see nothing disqualifying for pete hegseth to be secretary of defense. the man has been shot at. he is a perfect person to be the

disruptor that the entire industry needs. i saw his mom yesterday on her very long interview on fox. she is right. whatever she was discussing, people change. we move on. these same senators who are seemingly uncomfortable about something i don't really understand. nothing i have heard is disqualifying for pete. these same senators confirm demand pretending to be a woman. i think a couple of them in the current administration. pete is very brave. he has gone to harvard, princeton, written books, a multimillionaire. i'm not sure he needs this job. this is the swamp fighting back.

they cannot continue to line their pockets if pete is actually doing something about it. that is what he has very outspoken about on podcasts and at least one of his books i did read. i like pete. i hope pete can be confirmed. president trump should give all of his -- get all of his picks. he won this swing states, the popular vote, the electoral vote -- the electoral college vote. he should get everyone he picks. i am all in for pete. i love ron desantis and wesley hunt. there are people that might be great but pete is who president trump picked. i'm 100% behind pete. i see nothing disqualifying that i have heard thus far. host: you mentioned pete hegseth 's mother. a 2018 published by the new york times is what has brought her in

the spotlight. that email in which she wrote on behalf of all women. there are many you have abused in some way. get some help and take an honest look at yourself. i have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. you are that man and have been for years. that was her 2018 email she has since walked back. she was on fox news, fox and friends yesterday morning to talk about that reporting on that email. [video] >> you never thought you would be doing this, because you did nots eml you wrote in 2018, somebody leaked it to the new york times. i'm going to read part of it. "this is -- this is to pete. "i have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats and sleeps around. you are that man and have been

for years. as her mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that but it is a sad, sad truth. we still love you but we are broken by your behavior and your lack of character." when you wrote that, what is the back story? what was going on that made you so angry that you wanted to write that? >> i will tell that story in a moment but let me make two statements. one is to president trump. thank you for your belief in my son. we all believe in him. we really believe that he is not the man he was seven years ago. i'm not that mother. i hope people will hear that story today and the truth of that story. the other thing i want to say is i am here to tell the truth. to tell the truth to the american people. tell the truth to the senators on the hill, especially female senators.

i really hope you will not listen to the media and that you will listen to pete. host: that was yesterday on fox and friends. asking you can pete hegseth be confirmed as the next secretary of defense? robert in hamilton, ohio. republican. caller: how are you doing? host: go ahead. caller: i believe he should become the next -- i'm curious how low journalism has become. there is no facts. no substantialness to nothing. you are going by hearsay and mother to son talk. there is no concept to it. i really don't understand how

low journalism has become. get to the point. get to where the facts are. go out and do your job instead of sitting here and allowing some unknown anonymous thing to become on the news. this man is obviously able to the dod. it is ridiculous. host: peter in trenton, new jersey. democrat. caller: thanks for taking my call. i think he is unqualified to have that position. i believe the governor desantis, i think he's qualified. thank you for taking my call. host: sid from maryland.

independent. caller: i do not support pete hegseth for secretary of defense. just because he wrote a few books, he never went beyond the rank of a major in the army national guard. he has no experience working with admirals, generals. he will be responsible for civilians, active-duty personnel. even when he was an advocate for veterans he bungled that. he was a drunk. a million dollars severance pay. i think he's not qualified to hold that position of trust, confidence and showing as a major force in the world. i don't think he is. just because he wrote a few books does not make you qualified. he needs to go back to fox news and via tv host. -- and the atv host. that is -- and be a tv host.

that is what he's good at. host: republicans will hold a 53-47 geordie. if jim -- majority. if democrats stick together, the nominee would only -- could only lose three republican votes to be the nominee. elizabeth warren in in the senate from massachusetts wrote this yesterday about pete hegseth. "in 2023, more than six and every 100 women in the military. manyervicemembers never report the crimes. it's estimated to be up to four times higher. pete hegseth must not be the defense secretary." roy, republican. good morning. caller: number one, look, let's

remember that we are still americans. we probably have a tough year coming up. listen to what the liberal media is talking about going on with trump and guns and attacking and all this crap. they are [indiscernible] what the deep state is doing. yes, i think he is qualified. a lady said it way better than i'm going to. at least he knows what gender he is. that makes them smarter than the latest supreme court justice that the democrats put on last year in that seat. let's clear this up. what are the qualifications needed for the job? you like the fact-check every republican that calls in but you never bring a prussia, russia, russia, which was false -- russian, russia, russia, which was false.

a certain age? then american citizen? -- an american citizen? what are the qualifications? you can clear that up in a second. host: what do you think should be the qualifications for a defense secretary? caller: i want to see a person who loves and respects the constitution. knows what it is our government is specifically -- the military is supposed to do, which is to protect our country. maybe our borders as well. yes. totally our borders. that is the qualifications. that is a person the military would love. not some liberal nutcase from a university that pushes a pen all day. he can't do anything real. you can only teach. host: this is david also in north carolina. democrat. good morning.

caller: good morning. pete hegseth is qualified. he is god-fearing. that is all you need to be qualified. you have many women who think they are above or have better knowledge of the person. i don't think so. we have a four-star general running our air force that said we have too many white people in there. he is biased. he's a four-star general. we have a -- you think that's ok. it is not. y'all have a great day. host: dennis from maryland, independent. caller: good morning. good morning everybody. this is america.

this is america. trump picked him. let him go. this is america. anything goes in america, right? let the guy be confirmed. let the guy have his shot. he drank back in the day. he got himself together now. let the guy do it. this is america. we voted for trump. trump is in office. trump made the pixel let's go at it. -- made the pick so let's go edit. at it. trump won. if you say he is not your president, you are not american. you have to love this country, man. you have to love this country. one thing a love about trump is, when he said this country is a divided mess, that is what i agree with. black, white, green, purple. stop the nonsense.

let's get on with business and cut out the crap. host: that is dennis in maryland. more reaction from members of congress. senators who will have the final say on pete hegseth's nomination, including scott mcfarland of nbc news reporting on richard blumenthal, democrat from connecticut saying, " i would be surprised if we are still talking about pete hegseth on mday." blumenthalaid there are five to 10 needed votes that hegseth is lacking, which apparently would mean five to 10 republican votes. he can lose three republicans in the 119th congress. it would be vice president -- incoming vice president jd vance that would break a tie if there was a tied vote. jd vance tweeted yesterday talking about pete hegseth's mom defending her son. jd vance saying she apologized

two hours later. the media never talks about the apology because they are not trying to tell the truth. coming up on 7:30 on the east coast. we are asking about pete hegseth as department of defense secretary. the nomination is currently in dispute on capitol hill according to members of the u.s. senate. he -- unclear if he would receive the 50 plus one vote needed to win the confirmation battle. he's making the rounds on capitol hill. we are showing you video of the reporters and press following him for those meetings with senators. a brief interview from nbc news with pete hegseth in the hallways of the capitol. [video] >> have you had conversations with president-elect trump [indiscernible] ? >> i spoke with him this

morning. [indiscernible] why would i back down? i'm here for the war fighters. [indiscernible] >> you're not withdrawing your name? >> i am meeting all day with senators. host: pete hegseth with nicole killin with cbs news. those interviews happening across the capitol as pete hegseth makes the rounds on capitol hill. half an hour left in this opening segment of the washington journal. (202) 748-8000 for democrats to call in. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. a special line for active and retired military. (202) 488-8003. we will go to that line. gary in wisconsin. caller: good morning.

thank you for taking my call. host: what do you think of pete hegseth? caller: as former military, absolutely not. you lead by example. he's a terrible individual for leading by example. i have been retired over 15 years. you could get pulled off to active duty if you are having an extramarital affair. no violence, none of that. i can't believe we would even put a man like that with some kind of morals -- those kind of morals in charge of our military. it is a terrible day for the military if he ever gets appointed. host: jim is next out of texas. prairie help. republican -- prairie hill. republican. caller: good to talk to you, jon. pete has given his life to christ. he is an entirely different man. he is totally changed.

he would make an excellent nomination here. he would be great for the job. if they decide they don't want him, i will tell you what the democrats and liberal corrupt media is lying about. they are lying about he is not a democrat. anybody that trump picks -- i don't care what it is about -- they are going to lie and corrupt. just like they did brett kavanaugh, just like judge thomas. the liberal lying corrupt media is going after him. anonymous stuff. the boy has given his life to jesus. he's a completely changed man. if a don't, ron desantis would

do a great job. you ought to be about -- biden is overseas blowing taxpayer money. giving it to every country. he is writing like checks -- blank checks on taxpayer money. he's doing everything he can to bring down the trump administration, just like the liberal lying media. host: you mentioned ron desantis. if you had your druthers, what you prefer ron desantis over pete hegseth? caller: it would not matter. both are excellent men. both of them are excellent. pete is a good man. ron is a good man. the democrats are upset and mad and the liberal media, just like they always do, they tried to do it with kavanaugh. host: got your point. eddie in chesterfield, virginia. the line for active or retired

military. caller: i am retired military after 32 years of service. it takes more to leading the defense department that being -- you need to have leadership experience. your lifestyle should be tough to military standards. respect for both male and females. all members of the military. his own words have shown us he does not live by the army values of loyalty, dignity, respect, honor, integrity, personal courage. number one to me is integrity. i would not -- host: what level of leadership to think a defense secretary should have in-service in the military -- in service in the military?

do they have to be a four-star general to be defense secretary? caller: i do think he needs to have been a general in the military. he has earned the respect and honor of all those he served for and served above. at think -- i think at least a one star general. host: does someone have to have military service to be defense secretary? is that required at some point in their lives? caller: i feel it is a very strong -- they are better suited for the position. i won't say it has always been that way because it hasn't. i think they are better suited if they have that experience, yes. host: maureen dowd in the new york times with a look at a different era of nominations and confirmations. a story from her time reporting at the new york times.

"the nominee for defense secretary was in trouble for carousing, transgressing with lemon and liquor. president george h w -- a top white house official have a chat with white house reporters. we went over in 1989 to here with the official had to say about john tower, a texas senator and the chair of the armed services committee. he could barely peek over the top of some lecterns. he was prone to drunkenness and chasing secretaries around desks. tower gave a hard liquor and drink only white wine. we just stared at the official. he was trying to bargain with us over the type of alcohol tower could drink. we were nonplussed to find yourselves as the arbiters of

behavior and pulled into a negotiation session. what if the official said in a desperate bid he had only had one glass of wine? the senate rejected tower's nomination, the first time since 1959 the chamber refused to consent to a president's cabinet nominee. it was shocking how clubby the senate was. some senators had alcohol on their breath. bush learned what donald trump will learn with pete hegseth. sometimes you have to cut your losses." maureen dowd writing in the new york times today. brandon in florida, republican. caller: for now we can't drink alcohol. if you drink alcohol, you can't be defense secretary? secretary of defense? what gets me is, everybody

forgets donald trump won over half of american votes to win. to pick up you -- pick who he wants. they knows the chain of command and all that stuff. everyone is giving him a hard time. c-span, you have been tough on trumpet his picks. i dipped -- trump and his picks. i don't understand why no alcohol is a problem for the person chosen to be appointed as secretary of defense. host: you are in florida. what do you think about a possible ron desantis replacement ? caller: i don't like it because he backstabbed president trump by running for president. i think it is not a good -- president trump needs to stay away from him. far away from him. i just don't trust ron desantis

being secretary of defense. host: jeff on the line for active or retired military out of iowa. go ahead. caller: what about ulysses s grant? he was a drunk. i think he did a damn good job, didn't? -- didn't he? caller: trump does not waive his fingers in every buddy is just instantly approved. he did not even want to deal with the senate's advise and consent, and that is how our nation should not work. we should have that advice and consent. -- advise and consent. not just loyalists and yes-men. he needs to pick people that are good for america. when you become a person in these huge positions your

private life is open for examination. you are the servant of america. people that have bad private lives should be eliminated. host: that is john in california. this was the house for yesterday. jim mcgovern of massachusetts talking about not just this pic but donald trump's picks for his second administration. [video] >> luke who donald trump -- look at who donald trump is picking for his admin is ration. it looks like the requirements to be in the trump white house are you either abuse women or urine out of touch billionaire. what is next? was a replace fbi background checks with a fox news screen test? forget about a white house cabinet. donald trump is making it into a junk drawer. his commerce secretary, a billionaire. a billionaire. big surprise.

i don't think this guy is capable of understanding what average people in my district deal with. his education secretary, yet another billionaire. what is her qualification? she ran wwe. some schools have wrestling programs. it would be funny if it were not so sad. his new attorney general pick, an election denier. the person he tapped to lead health and human services, he things tap water terms kids gay. his defense secretary, this guy is probably dropping out momentarily. apparently he drinks on the job and paid to cover up sexual assault allegations. even his mom does not like him. these people don't shop at grocery stores. do you think they pump their own gas or cook their own food? of course not. these are people who harp on -- hop on helicopters to avoid traffic.

the republicans are bending over backwards for them. it is unbelievable. host: jim mcgovern on the house floor yesterday. the pages of the new york times, a graphic breaking down themes in donald trump's picks for cabinet positions. it includes at least five billionaires. eight have been major trump donors. 11 have been fox hosts or contributors. nine have been registered lobbyists. 12 hosted or cohosted events and mar-a-lago. the graphic in the new york times today if you want to see how they break it down. dennis in st. louis, missouri. democrat. caller: i have a couple of comments. first of all, we don't talk about his lack of management screens. he ran a couple of small veterans groups and was let go.

there is no success to model here. even more important is his thinking about our country. he talks about the enemy within. very similar to the man who appointed him. the enemy within is more of a threat to america's values then overseas enemies. he attacks the media, universities, any liberal, any democrat. above all, he attacks teachers and professors. he calls them marxists. i'm a former teacher. that's early does not resemble my experience. above all, if you keep reading his books -- i have read a couple of them -- he's a white christian nationalist who does not believe in diversity of any kind. our military is diverse. he thinks anybody in a high

physician -- position, they woman or african-american is automatically unqualified. they have not met some kind of standard. this is the irony of ironies that he is unqualified. he should not be anywhere near the secretary of defense. there are many qualified republicans for this position. he should absolutely be repudiated. i think he is going to be in the country will be better off. host: what made you want to read pete hegseth's books? caller: just reading about him in the washington post, new york times, the wall street journal. maybe because the way he attacked education. that was my profession. it was insulting. completely insulting. host: you read the books

since the nomination? caller: yes. i read the one on education where he focused on the marxist thing. host: "the battle for the american mind." caller: yeah. and columnists -- jane mayer. for expose in the new yorker. they are all kinds of things about him. it is really remarkable he's even considered a serious nominee. i'm not talking about the abuse of women. that obviously has gotten all the attention and it deserves to get attention, but really there are many, many other factors. this guy is unqualified on half a dozen accounts. i can't believe citizens are calling in thinking he's qualified because he's a veteran or a nice guy or he went to

harvard. there are a lot of highly qualified people who have good credentials and experience in management, knowledge of the military. even desantis, at least he's had the spirits of running a state. he has management experience. this guy has none. i shudder to think what will happen. hopefully this nomination will go down before the weekend is up. host: the jane mayer piece that came out on december 1 in the new yorker got a lot of attention. pete hegseth's secret history. trump's nominee to run the pentagon was forced out of previous leadership positions for financial mismanagement, sexist behavior and being repeatedly intoxicated. this is andy in california, independent. caller: good morning.

just another loyalist to be appointed. it seems to me we -- it is no surprise. we have lowered the bar to elect a president. we have lowered the bar again. it is just amazing. just because you have a tattoo on your arm we the people and a cross, that doesn't qualify you either. his own mother called him a rat. i think we need to keep the bar higher. it is unfortunate we have a president -- morality does matter. we lowered the bar for president. let's not keep lowering the bar and appointing all of his

loyalists. we need to make america great again. host: is there any of donald trump's picks for his cabinet you like? caller: um, i question a lot of them because of the loyalty factor. we need to have loyalty to the constitution. that is where it lies. host: this is -- that i get that name right? caller: you did. sutorum. thank you to these guys taking these calls. the two before me were very educated, the candidate for secretary of defense.

look at this coin. he knows he's not going to get picked. he's going to go through the ringer. everyone is paying attention to that. he will get other through -- other people through. you have to go through an fbi interview. did donald trump go through that? if our president went through that and you are putting this man through the ringer -- good or bad for america, he is for this country. america. start worrying about us at home. the people that voted for trump, we had enough. enough. pete is not going to be -- if he is, so be it. we have to have guard lines in place to protect this country. there are stages.

the gentleman before me, we lowered the bar. americans value this country for the superman of the world. what happened to our humanity? what people are missing is, you are making it a show. there are people dying in ukraine. people dying for what? for the rich to get richer? for trump to make more money? you are not taking it with you, guys. it will be left in this world. you are not taking this money with you. the fact it have to go through the fbi interviews, go through the checks. if he passes, he passes. if trump passes the fbi thing, god bless you. you deserve to be president. the country voted for you. the democrats can have biden

dropout and say kamala harris -- are you kidding me? are you trying to shortcut the american people so this woman can take over the democratic party? you just leapfrogged. you get what you deserve now. the country is backing you, sir. god first, us second. i hope this brings us together. patriotism should be for every country. we live here. you bring your children here. you die, you work, you serve. love your country little. for the callers before me, god bless you guys. the one caller was very informed for pete. gave good comments. if you go to the fbi check, you know what? these guys say he is good to go, -- if they say no, i'm sorry,

sir. another thing -- host: we want to talk about background checks. the associated press with a story on the donald trump transition team and that topic. the team on tuesday signed an agreement to allow the justice department to accept background checks on his nominees and appointees after some weeks delay. transition aides and staffers obtained a security clearances before an operation day to access classified information about ongoing government programs, and essential step for a smooth transition of power. it allows those nominees who are up for senate confirmation to face the background checks lawmakers want before they vote on them. investigators have been standing by the process clearances for donald trump's agent advisors. debbie out of michigan,

democrat. go ahead. caller: i have a couple of concerns. your past does matter in a lot of different positions within the world. it should be considered. second of all, if he has a drinking problem and is head of our national security, i believe that is a real problem. thirdly, his mother says he has his act together now. but nbc had a documentary that his former coworkers, just as of last month said he showed up to work drunk. and smelled of alcohol and such. either his mom is lying to cover for him or something is going

on, because that many of your coworkers is not going to lie about you. one person, your mother, and him himself, oh, i've got that under control. that doesn't make any sense. host: debbie in michigan. patricia and ohio, republican. -- in ohio, republican. caller: i think he should be confirmed. i think the media is out to get him. we have seen that the last four years, how they have -- it is like trump never left office. we have lived through four years of a corrupt president protecting his son who benefited financially from our foreign adversaries. we have said nothing about it. the media supported him the whole time. no laptop. nothing.

everything was disinformation. now we have an individual -- nominated for the position of the fence secretary. i would really ask everyone who is denigrating him how much experience do you have about running the military? he at least volunteered and served his country and who is to say he cannot do the job? a lot of the people throwing stones would not be able to do the job anymore than they think he can. i have a real problem with people that are throwing stones. people can change. i do believe he may have had an interesting past. however, people can change. they change their behavior.

i say he's a patriot. i think he will be good for the military. if nothing else because he served. people who have served, they see it. both my son and husband have served in the military. my son particularly talks about the things that need to be changed in the military. i think mr. hegseth will be an ok nominee. i hope he is elected. host: what is one thing your son thinks needs to be changed in the military? caller: i don't feel like i'm at liberty to say that. it is a private conversation. i do not want to jeopardize his career. i don't think i'm at liberty to say anything about that. host: this is larry in north carolina, independent. caller: good morning, sir.

i'm not on the red team. i'm not on the blue team. i'm an independent. i have watching this scenario play out, which is kind of unique. first, it was the liberal folks against matt gaetz. that's ok. now it is pete hegseth is the worst person in the world and should not be confirmed. well, after you have five days of this on c-span and finally they had enough, they can't take anymore and he's gone, it was going to be next? willoughby tul -- will it be tulsi gabbert, rfk junior? i'm curious. that's what it seems to be. the liberal media is just out for anything other than democrats. that is my say. i think you for letting me have it. you have a great day.

host: in texas, teresa, republican. caller: good morning. i am totally for the nomination of pete hegseth. i think it is disgusting that the liberal media and the democrats are using their typical strategy they have used for years. nancy pelosi eloquently stated exactly what the wrapup smear is during one of her press conferences when she was drunk. yes. the speaker of the house normally is drug when she's having conferences -- drunk when she is having conferences. they say find some gullible reporter and report it in a corrupt newspaper about whatever falsehood they went about whatever candidate they don't want to be in office.

they keep repeating it. they bring it to a conference. they say look, it has been reported. it is all crap. pete hegseth is more than qualified. he's been on the ground. he knows what the military needs. he's a two times bronze star recipient. he would be perfect for the job. definitely more qualified than austin. austin is not qualified. he knew the rules. he was having major surgery and did not notify anybody. host: you think it's crap the reporting that donald trump is considering ron desantis? caller: i don't want ron desantis. it should definitely be pete hegseth. not ron desantis. ron is doing an outstanding job as governor and that is where he should stay. pete is an outstanding person. he was on the ground. he knows what the military needs .

ever since 2010, at of the military men and women left because of the transitioning -- a lot of the military men and women left because of the transitioning through obama when the transgendered started coming in and things of that nature. that is not what our military is for. they weakenedwe do not seed -- y in there like austin. and look at our health secretary. who is next? they are already starting to go after rf j. so what if they come in with their own money? so what? all of our senators and congressmen that are millionaires and they have been in there for years, they should not be millionaires. anybody who becomes a millionaire or whatever they want to be in congress or in the senate, they are thieves. host: teresa in texas.

this is robert in north carolina in the line for active and retired military. go ahead. caller: good morning america and my brothers and sisters in arms. my name is robert and i am a retired colonel. i spent 34 years in the military from private all the way up. from what i understand this person's qualifications to lead this war fighting industry to protect america, he is unqualified. there are a number of schools and things that i have gone through from my boot camp training all the way up to commanding general and staff college. the only school i did not get through was the war college because it was time to go to general and i retired. it was unqualified because it sounds like he was just a platoon leader. he did not go through the advance colors and he did not go

to the other advanced training to give you a better perspective and viewpoints of our capabilities and leadership. and the first person that called you and gave you the rundown on how the qualifications are for a bronze star or cib or ieb, i said yes, i agree. this man is unqualified. and they keep talking about well he put his uniform on and served his country. i thank him for his service but he is not qualified in terms of his military training. if you are talking about austin, austin graduated from west point and he spent all of his years all the way to the top of his ladder, which he understands this building and understands the soldiers in the mission. this man understands his politics, and on the others he

understands his politics and what he wants. i feel very uncomfortable with him leaving soldiers that are trained more than him in this area. host: would you feel more or less comfortable with ron desantis? caller: i would not because he is a neighbor -- a navy lawyer. lawyers in the navy are not war fighters. they understand it they are just lawyers in uniform. and they are specialists, subject matter experts. they will do that same job in civilian life that they did in uniform. host: that is robert in north carolina. james, dallas texas. independent. you are next. go ahead. are you with us? we you have to stick by your phone. joe, signal mountain, tennessee. go ahead. caller: all of these people are going gaga over qualifications

like they went over gaetz they found out about him and they are working on hegseth. why doesn't anyone say about the qualifications of general milley who called china in 2021 and told them look, we are going to attack you and i will give them a call and let you know. guess what? nobody said anything about that. he kept his job and nobody fired him. the democrats are nuts. thank you for taking my call and having a good day. host: a call in the bronx. democrat. go ahead. caller: good morning on c-span. i would like to say this, and i learned this from free-speech tv. that guy, if you -- that trump put in there, he is a naturalist

-- he is a nazi, he has a tattoo on his arm. he is a drunkard. he does not know where he is at half the time. he has gotten so drunk they had to carry him out of the place. everybody that trump is going to put into office is a criminal just like him. if they are not they are so close to one. host: the last call. gerald, michigan. independent. caller: hello. donald trump has a right to pick who he wants for his cabinet. if the democrats do not like it that is too bad, they had their opportunity. this guy going in for this job here, at least he did served with honor. and, general austin decided that he was going to take a walk one day and did not bother to tell

his supporters or anywhere else where he was going. you do not think that put the country in jeopardy? it did. your commander-in-chief was not in the service as -- at all. the closest to the job he ever came to was being in a life -- was being a lifeguard. thank you very much. host: gerald in michigan the last caller. plenty more to talk about including up next, a look at what happened in south carolina this week, the martial law declaration, and they reaction it received worldwide and later don bacon discusses the incoming trump administration and what it means for the future of the armed forces. stick around. we will be right back. ♪ >> booktv every sunday on

c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction spokes. at 2:00 p.m. eastern, booktv presents the coverage of the 2024 wisconsin book festival hearing on the history of refrigeration, the foster care system, but it means to be native american and more. and then we will feature a gala held by encounter books to honor the heritage foundation president and students for fair admissions president edward blom for their work advancing american ideals and academic freedom. 10:00 p. eastern on afterwards, engsh talks about the rise and fall of the most successful cocaine empires anu. history in his book " the last kilo." he is interviewed by vonda feld bob brown -- felbob-brown. watch every sunday on c-span2, or every -- or any time at

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celeste arrington. she serves as director for the institute of korean studies at the school. explain what we saw on tuesday in south korea leading up to the surprise and short-lived declaration of martial law. guest: good morning and thank you for having me. so, because of the time difference we got to watch what unfolded in korea in the middle of the night in the middle of the day here in washington. basically the president of south korea, yoon suk yeol, called a surprise emergency press conference without notifying many of his members of the cabinet or even his own ruling conservative party, people's power party. at the press conference he declared martial law. this is the first time since 1980 that a south korean leander has declared martial law and the first time has -- the first

times in south korea became a democracy in 1987. in 2.5 hours after the direct -- after the declaration, the 190 members of the national assembly, the legislative body in south korea, voted unanimously to ask the president to withdraw the declaration. this is basically from 11:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m., the drama that we watched unfold live with lots of media coverage. the military surrounded the national assembly and officially martial law prohibited political activity by lawmakers. but this 190 out of 300 that made it to vote in the national assembly got through the cordons of police and military to get into the building to vote. the speaker of the national assembly had to climb over a wall to get into the building. and they resoundingly announced

the declaration of military law with a unanimous vote, including 18 members of the president's own conservative party voting against the motion. and then we waited for the president to respond, which we did in korea time at about 4:00 a.m.. he was out and withdrew the martial law. korea was under martial law for about six hours on tuesday night. host: was this a play for political power or a political stunt? how do you interpret what happened? guest: to be honest a lot of observers are scratching their heads and trying to understand what the objective was because some observers have called it the nuclear option or this was political suicide for him. it is hard to see exactly what political benefits he got out of doing this. over the entirety of his term since may 2022, president yoon

suk yeol has faced a national assembly controlled by the opposition party. they are increasingly at loggerheads with each other. building over the last few months are not just legislative presidential deadlocks but really mutual mudslinging and attacks. example the opposition party in the national assembly has tried to impeach dozens of government officials in the yoon administration. they had not tried until yesterday to impeach the president himself. they also tabled many special investigations of the first lady and other members of the yoon administration. they have passed a variety of different laws that the president then vetoed. and he has used the presidential veto with unprecedented frequency. so really we have a mutual attack and unwillingness to

compromise. there is legislative deadlock, and increasingly the president seemed isolated and frustrated. and it might have been that this week there were a couple of triggers that lead him to take such extreme steps as declaring martial law. i think you people watching his increasing frustration what have expected such an extreme move. host: so important here because south korea is such a key u.s. allies and tens of thousands of u.s. service members are stationed along the border with north korea. reaction around the world, into -- including the u.s. secretary of state, he was seated -- speaking with the filipino company about the declaration. this is about a minute and a half. [video clip] >> we were not aware but obviously watching it carefully. it is good to see that the martial law edict was withdrawn by president yoon after the parliament voted against it.

and for us, this is one of the most critical alliances that we have anywhere in the world. south korean democracy is one of the most powerful stories anywhere in the world. it is very important that any disputes and differences, political differences be resolved peacefully and pursuant to the rule of law. that is what we are seeing now and that is what is important to sustain. >> you are saying that you well, rescinding of the martial law. do you mean that you do not think there was justification for it? >> i am not going to get into the decisions that were made, political decisions being made in south korea. all i can say as korea's staunch ally and a country believes that korea has such an important story to tell to the world because of the extraordinary emergence not only of a democracy but a strong and resilient democracy, we want to see that sustained because it is

in our interest and a partnership that is critical to us, but what it says to the world. it is important how our allies resolve any internal differences. we are watching it closely, but it is good to see that the martial law declaration was rescinded and the political process is moving pursuant to the rule of law. [end video clip] host: antony blinken. what do you think what happened in south korea, what does it do to the u.s.-south korea alliance? guest: i think the election of former president donald trump has led to a lot of uncertainty among korean officials about what is going to happen for the alliance starting in january when he takes office. and this just throws that much more uncertainty into alliance management.

under the first trump administration we sort of roller coaster from a year of fire and fury and coming close to war with north korea in 2017 ted then in 2018 to lots of summit meetings between the leaders of the united states and the of north korea. that level of uncertainty and volatility in the alliance, many officials in south korea were already worried about what a new trump administration coming in. but now, the political and domestic instability adds a whole new level of uncertainty. the cabinet of president yoon suk yeol offered to resign en mass yesterday. so we have leadership turnover in the foreign policy and military administration in south korea as well as the uncertain

future of the president himself. host: if you have questions about south korea and what happened now would be a good time to call in. professor arrington is with us for the next 10 to 15 minutes. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. independents, 202-748-8002. we will also look for your texts and tweets. here is one of them for you. this is judy asking "how did this incident of declaring maia law rle on the health of south korea's democratic institutions, and what implications might it have for political polarization going forward?" guest: this is an extreme symptom of political polarization in south korea and a deeply historically rooted polarization that tends to be sort of a division of us versus them rather than tolerating the

opposition and trying to work together towards a compromise, which is essential in democracy. it is really about destroying the other side. and i think both the conservative party and the opposition party, which controls the national assembly, there is some blame in terms of escalating the level of vitriol and rhetoric and accusation against each other to a point where basic governance has grown difficult in south korea. that might be in the -- expressed in the frustration of yoon suk yeol declaring martial law. that is not a normal democratic procedure. under the constitution there are very specific conditions under which the president is allowed to declare martial law and those conditions did not appear in south korea. this is stepping beyond the bounds of normal democratic procedure because the normal institutions are not working.

what i worry about for political polarization is that we are now seeing the second impeachment of a president within the last eight years in south korea. just because you do not agree with the other side does not mean that you should immediately leap to impeachment. there needs to be a more civil discourse and the public sphere in south korea and a willingness not tar the other side as the president did as pro-north korean antistateist forces, which is a quote. or as the opposition saying is that yoon suk yeol is an authoritarian dictator that abuses his power and illegally declares martial law. this does not leave much room for compromise. host: you talk about normal democratic procedure. could you speak to the history of martial law decorations in south korea and democracy movement in response? guest: yes.

the last time we had a martial law declaration was in 1980 to suppress a pro-democracy uprising in the seven -- in a southern city. it led to the violent that's an injury of hundreds of south korean civilians -- deaths and injury of hundreds of south korean citizens. it lives on as a strong memory as a moment where south korea could have become a democracy. it was ruled by military dictators. but the military and the dictators suppressed democracy with martial law, which was the key tool plus the violence that ensued after. so, to hear that martial law is cleared again calls backup the moment of of violence episode of failure to bring about democracy.

through the 1980's, that spirit lived on and sustained pro-democracy activism which gradually spread to more sectors of society to the point where in 1987 the regime capitulated and agreed to allow direct democratic elections. and so, it is central and core to the pro-democracy legacy and the movement's legacy in south korea. that they fought and suffered martial law back in 1980. for the first time since then to have martial law declared is a shock. we are starting to see polling coming out. 74% of south koreans according to a poll opposed the use of a martial law. koreans do not agree on a lot of things. they are politically polarized as your previous commenter mentioned. but they seem to have quite a

bit of unanimity against martial law. host: george, independent. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. my question to get more clarity on the topic. is the current government in korea, doesn't lean more conservative or liberal would you say? guest: the current government is conservative. caller: i was going to follow on. do you see that as something typical for the conservative government when compared to other governments across the world? guest: so korean conservatism means a harsh line towards north korea, pro-business policy, upholding the u.s.-korea alliance, and maintaining a

strong anti-communist stance. so, first for -- the conservatives who ruled from 2008 through 2017 when the previous president was impeached maintain those policies in general. the liberal side, what characterizes south korean liberals is the legacy of pro-democracy activism lives on in the liberal side, primarily. and they want to establish a more equal partnership with the united states in the alliance. and they tend to favor engaging north korea more. and they have a little bit more attention to social minorities and rights issues. but the current president is

conservative, but the national assembly is controlled by the liberal party. in the april elections they overwhelmingly controlled the assembly. for his entire term he has had the assembly in control -- liberals in control of the assembly. part of this frustration is that he has been impossible to get his goals done. host: if a goal of liberalism is a more equal partnership with the united states, what do they envision it looks like? guest: it depends a little bit on north korean behavior and actions. so, in 2018 as i mentioned, the then president moon who was a liberal proposed a lot of dialogue. they had a lot of talks and he

visited north korea to give talks. he advocated for more consultation and more equal partnership in the alliance management. but both the conservatives and the liberals still value the u.s. alliance and the presence of 28.5 million troops in parts because north korea maintains a belligerent stance and is still at war technically would south korea. this is a little bit of a tricky balance to hold while engaging north korea also and maintaining the u.s.-korea alliance. host: a headline from "the wall street journal," the south korean president faces removal vote in politics. -- in parliament. walk us through what it would take and the process it would take and how long it would be

for a new leader to emerge? guest: there are a variety of different scenarios. easiest one is he resigns but he said he will not and he continues to defend the martial law declaration. the next is as we will see on friday or saturday, the vote in the national assembly which requires 200 votes to pass to impeach him. and then his powers would be suspended if the vote succeeds. it requires eight of his own party, the conservatives to vote against him. for impeachment. the -- there are factions within the ruling party, but it is not clear yet how much discipline the party will exert over its members. we will have to stay tuned for that. if he is impeached the prime minister becomes the acting president and the powers of the

presidents are suspended. and the constitutional court has 180 days in which to rule 21 whole -- to uphold the impeachment motion. in 2017 the constitutional court did rule to uphold the impeachment of the president. but in 2004, the constitutional court overturned the national assembly's impeachment motion against the then president. so, how the constitutional court rules is still unclear. they are also missing one justice it seems like -- one judge enough to rule against -- to uphold the impeachment motion. if he is impeached by the national assembly and the constitutional court upholds the decision, south korea is required to have an election within 60 days. host: who are the people you are watching if there is an election in south korea?

who are the names we should know about? guest: i think part of the challenge for the conservative party now and the factions within it trying to decide whether to vote for impeachment or not is that the likely liberal party candidate for president is currently undergoing four different trials and is a very polarizing figure. he has been convicted in one of those trials for abusing the election law and a variety of other corruption scandals. he is not a paragon of virtue and democratic ideals, i guess. and so for the conservatives, they would see that he would be a likely candidate. within the democratic party, if that leader decides to step down, there is a variety of other figures trying to jockey to become the next candidate and they have been doing so for the

2027 election because south korea has a one five-year term president z. there is one other scenario which is unlikely with constitutional revision to switch from a 15-year term 2824 year term in which case if yoon survives the impeachment motion and the opposition party does not decide to keep impeaching him until it works, his term would not last until 2027 but would be over in 2026. host: the democratic party of korea is what we have been describing as a conservative party. guest: the democratic party is the liberal opposition party. and the people's power party is the conservative party. we are likely to see some reconfiguration as we head towards the potential election. there has been more than 40 different parties in korea. they frequently reform and

rename in part to distance themselves from disgraced leaders like it takes -- like it appears that president yoon is currently because of his rash decision to declare martial law. host: thanks for helping to sort this out for us. stay tuned down the road. we might bring you back as things develop in korea. professor arrington of george washington university. thank you. coming up, the first congressman to join us will be don bacon, republican of nebraska and after that we are joined by tom suozzi , democrat of new york. all of that this morning on washington journal. >> american history tv saturdays on c-span2, exploring the people in the events that tell the american story. they see weekend at 12:30 p.m. eastern, more than 80 years after his death the identified

remains of mess attendent first class -- third class david waer will be buried. he was killed on the uss california during the japanese bombing of pearl harbor on december 7, 1941. the first of a two part lecture by the university of maryland history protects -- professor michael ross on the trial of lizzie borden who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with the next. they received widespread publicity at the time and lizzie borden became a lasting figure in american popular culture. at 9:30 p.m. eastern, on the presidency, eyewitnesses account what was going on in the white house as president franklin roosevelt learned about the japanese attack on the pearl harbor and moved to assess the damage in america's response. watch american history tv saturdays on c-span2, and find a

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host: never ask a republican don bacon is back to us. before we get to this week i just want to get you to reflect on a month ago today, election day. this is the lede from a recent piece from "the nebraska examiner," u.s. republican -- representative don bacon outperforms the blue dot in nebraska's second district. national results show how unusual that is. what do you credit from that victory in that unusual move among your colleagues? guest: eight years of a record where i worked across the aisle to get things done for our district in our country. i was rated the most effective republican in the house by the center for most effective lawmaking and i pass more legislation than any other republican.

on the democrat side, the d.c. democrats are trying to say that i was a super maga radical. people are not partisan, but they are my partisan in the ratings. so i was able to show the voters that i worked from you and i think that was the biggest thing. and i think there was a disheartening feeling throughout the country and even in our district. the average american was 4% for today than they dashboard -- poorer today than they were four years ago. afghanistan was the beginning of the end of the biden administration. i do not think they recovered from it. it probably hurt the chances in the senate and taking back the house when you put it together. host: do you think americans want bipartisanship and is that the lesson? guest: you have some of the wings of both parties that did not want you to compromise at

all. that does not work. james madison designed a government with three branches of government and checks and balances where you have to work. the wings of our parties do not like it. however the reality is that the mass majority of americans are fed up with congress getting very little done and the government creeping along because we are yelling and screaming at each other. the people want us to work together to solve the border, cut spending because that lead to inflation, the hyper spending. they would like us to work together to handle russia and china and iran. and, it cannot be party first. it has to be america over party and they do not see enough of that. host: how do you get the -- how much do you think will get done when republicans have one of the smallest majorities ever. the headline from "the new york times" talking about the 220-215

majority with vacancies early, it might be as slim as to 17-215. guest: we have to realize that if we do not work across the aisle and find areas of consensus you will not get much done and that is a fact. we did that this last two years. we had a wing that did not want to cooperate on a lot of things so speaker johnson had to work in a bipartisan way. we did that with isa and the appropriations bill and the defense bill. in the end because of the way that madison designed the constitution, you have to find consensus on the others out of the aisle. i do think when you look at the republican conference in the coming congress, it is more collegial, and cohesive. a lot of the folks who created most arguments in the most division within our own ranks on the republican side are gone this time. i think we have 220 republicans

but it is much more of a teamwork mindset so i think we will be in a better spot. host: who are the ones who created that division that are god now. guest: i do not like to throw people under the bus but the three biggest rabble-rousers on our side the ones who went after mccarthy and speakers gillies and tried to go after mike johnson and they are gone. i will leave in about -- at that. but, the three worst guys when it comes to building a cohesive team are not in the upcoming congress. host: do you want to name them? guest: i would prefer not to. i would like to be polite. host: this week on capitol hill you do not get a vote on confirmation hearings in the senate but you are in the house armed services committee. hegseth and his thoughts on him being the secretary of defense. guest: i know he is a smart man

but i do think he has an uphill battle. he is going to have to work hard to convince to get the 50 senators to support him. there are two areas contention. one is he prepared to lead the department of defense with 2 million people in it. and he has to make the case that he is ready for it. and then also for many senators and many americans character still matters. there are these allegations and these are more than allegations. he has to show that that was his history and he has changed and he has a different man. the military still cakes people out -- kicks people out if you have affairs. generals were fired and removed for having an affair. these topics are relevant. you talk about the military because we have the uniform code of military justice. and these standard still apply. i had a three star general when i was a colonel and i was a lead

commander at rams dying. -- ramstein. he said i will fire you if you have a bottle problem, or zipper problem or sensibly to combat if you are -- if he has not compared -- not prepared. that is a code we live with. host: what is the big challenge vacant -- facing the next secretary of defense. guest: we are spending 3% of gdp on defense, which is the lowest going back to before world war ii. norm has been 4% in the cold war and sometimes 6% under ronald reagan. 8% in the 1960's. 3% is not enough to modernize the icbm, bombers and submarines and to buy the f-35's and the attack submarines and to provide a quality of life are the men and women who serve. we have many military members on the stamp and they have to rely on food banks and that is not

right. the greatest military and country in the world we should not have military members relying on food banks to put food on the table. we have failing scores in the barracks and we have to fix that. military spouses are the largest demographic in the united states for unemployment and i can go on and on. we have to improve the quality of life for the military and i am here to say that 3% gdp is not enough to do that. the secretary of defense and i have talked to secretary also and the service secretaries, and they are having to make decisions on how to modernize a military to counter china and they do not have a big enough line and that is a challenge. host: it was tweeted that the pentagon failed to pass its seventh audit. how do you justify spending more money on the military when the pentagon cannot pass a simple audit? guest: most of the federal government cannot pass an audit,

it is not like -- it is not just the dod. it is the entire federal government that does a bad job of tracking money and where it goes. i am not opposed to looking at programs in the dod to see where we can cut. that is good where we find ways, let us go for it. we can also not be a military that can only build one attack submarine a year. that is unacceptable. attack submarines are one of the most important things we have to counter china and we will say we will modernize them to counter china. one will not do it. we need f-35's and the next generation of air dominance fighters. the air force is looking to cut six generation fighters before we even have it designed because they said it is not enough money to do it. i am not opposed to cutting wasted programs where we find it, but you have to have military equipment and a quantity and quality that can chat -- that can counter china,

russia, iraq and iran. host: plenty of calls for you. the phone lines for viewers as usual, the democratss ru -- democrats,, republicans and independents. this is independent. i know you do -- caller: i know that you do not have a vote a lot of your observations about pete hegseth i agree with. not only it is a huge bureaucracy, but when you have a lot of young people and you are an alcoholic or womanizer, it is not helping the team. it is not just helping our team. and i think we can do better. and the budget problem like, we have an aging population. that is cutting into the military budget. i am not the one to solve that problem. but i would vote personally know

if i was in the senate against pete hegseth. i have nothing against the guy. but you are dealing with a lot of young people. and character does matter. thank you for letting me have my say. guest: i appreciate the comments. i will give you an anecdote. when i was a captain and then a major when president clinton was a president. when that scandal came out i will say the military, and i cannot speak for everybody, but the vast majority was like we would have gotten fired for that. and i think the same scenario applies, when we are talking about the nominee for the current secretary of defense. the military has to live by a high standard and we still have rules on the book that you cannot full round with subordinates or have affairs. if you do you will get fired. these are good standards and we have a saying and i think it is viable.

and i appreciate it. if your wife cannot trust you, neither can i. that is the code that we live by. i also want to talk about the budget crunch. it is hurting military. right now we have about two workers for every retiree or close to that. in 1950, it was 15. so the shift to an aging population has grown the social security outlay and the medicare and medicaid outlay. today, 72% of the budget is called mandatory spending and only 20% is discretionary. of that half of that is defense. every year that number gets smaller and it is putting pressure on trying to fund the military. i support a commission where half republicans and half democrats and both sides have to find a way to balance the budget and save social security and medicare. it is going to hurt. in both sides will have to have

ownership. if we do not do this it will get harder and harder to fund the things that we need to. and it will not get easier with each year to save social security. we have to make tough decisions now and it has to be a bipartisan solution. if republicans do it on their own they will get destroyed. if democrats try to do it on their own they will get destroyed. there has to be an american solution and we have to face the facts. caller: louisville, kentucky. democrat. morning. guest: good morning sir. the situation in south korea seemed like it happened quickly as i was listening to the radio and after six hours it was basically over. what is our position with that? did anybody see that coming? what other quick question, would you ever consider running for higher office? host: do you want to see him run for higher office? caller: we do. we have talked before the phone and i had a person who could run with him and i mentioned it.

but i think we need somebody from the house of representatives. we have a lot of senators and governors and private businessmen. i think it is about time to get a new perspective from the house of representatives and, don bacon you have a great name. everybody loves bacon. guest: thank you so much. what was the first question? host: south korea. guest: i got thrown off by the second part. host: we will get to that. guest: i do not think anybody saw it coming that i know of. i did not have the briefing. from the folks i got to it was a surprise. america's position is that we are opposed to martial law. i am a half glassful guy. look at imagery at night on the infrared satellites, south korea shines bright. it is one of the best economies in the world and it is a democracy. it had a hiccup, a martial law

declaration. and then you look at north korea, it is one little speck of light and the rest of the country is dark. the average north korean is a couple of inches shorter than the average south korean because they do not eat as well. it is a dictatorship. ica success story that america can state -- i see a success story that america can see a success story. and when we look at what we have today, one of the greatest and most prosperous countries in the world. i will be glass half-full on this. with my future, i am a christian, i pray for god's will and wisdom on how to go forward. doors will shut and open. but i retired for the military in 2014 and i never guessed that i would run for congress. i was campaigning for the republican and he ended up losing and suddenly i became on

the shortlist for nominee is. and so i just pray that i am ready and able to serve when those doors open. i love our country and abraham lincoln and i want people to make a positive difference. i love reading about people who have the courage to do the right thing when it is not possible and then later there country sees just how, like abraham lincoln is the case and point. he saved the country. he was very unpopular at the time. but when you look backwards he had the courage and wisdom to do the things he did and he saved the country. i want to make a positive impact on our country. host: out of florida, republican. next. you are on. caller: i would like to make an observation with regards to pete hegseth, with constitutionally he is innocent until found

otherwise. this whole thing everything now everyone gets nominated it is one allegation after another. so, i just wanted to be in complete support of pete's nomination for defense secretary. guest: thank you very much. i appreciate the input. i agree, especially when it comes to crimes. and he is not being charged with a crime. you are innocent until proven guilty. we have a high standard to be the secretary of defense and i think that standard is higher versus charging a crime and going to a jury. he is going to have a chance to make his case in front of 100 senators and to have that case -- that chance and hearings and i wish him well. i just think he has an uphill climb. host: what do you think reports that donald trump is considering ron desantis as a replacement nominee? guest: i know it is reports and i do not know it is true. but i think he would make a

great secretary of defense. he has proven that he can lead at a very high level and he can lead to million person organization. he has a governor of florida. he was successful as a governor of florida plus he has experience in the u.s. house. i served with him in the 115th congress. i think he would be easily confirmable. host: athens, georgia. jimmy is an independent. you are next. caller: good morning and thank you for being a centrist. the one quote that stuck in my head that you said is if your wife does not trust you, then neither do i. and i guess that is the reason i did not vote for donald trump and i voted for kamala instead. even millennia i do not think -- melania will trust donald trump. i do appreciate you, and i think that pete's wife does not trust

him either. and this is coming from his mother. it was pete's mother. people have been calling in and complaining about it is the liberal media who have been attacking pete. but i learned on fox news, which is not the liberal media, that his mother wrote a letter saying that he had low character because he was cheating on his wife. that right there i think should be enough to disqualify this man. there are a lot of good people who deserve to be secretary of defense. thank you and have a great day. guest: i do not know if i have anything to add to that. i would say about the presidential race in my district in omaha we call it the blue dot, vice president won our district and we just had this all the time how can you vote for this person or that person. i just tell people that we all

have a right to priorities and also i think many of the republicans put the border as a top priority. it is a valid concern and we had 10 million cross and innocent people murdered by criminals who come across. other people put the economy has a number one issue because wages did not keep up with inflation. otherwise -- other people put the character. no one has a right to tell you that you cannot vote your priority and what is important to you because what i saw during the election was a lot of shame on you for supporting this person or that person. in the united states of america we have the right to support who we want without having someone point your finger at you and saying same on -- shame on you. i appreciate the caller's perspective. i would like to point to the other side, the border in the economy where the top two issues and that is why we have donald trump as the nominee today. host: charlene. california.

democrat. good morning. caller: mr. bacon, i wanted to compliment you on showing your spirit and your character. the truth is the light. instead of all of the bibles and -- in schools and set of things, i think some great wallpaper with the 10 commandments throughout the white house would be a great place to start. a great investment, and would not cost as much, you know? i do not care if you call it truth or lies, it does not matter. there is a difference. it is simple, we try to complicate things. you know what? we cannot allow the sulfur to ignite. the only way is to not -- allow it is to stay in truth. mr. bacon, you are a good man. guest: i hope my wife and my dad

are listening. thank you so much for the kind words. i would give you a couple of anecdotes on this. i was at a county party meeting and i said i am a christian first, american and then a republican and this man says that is why we do not like you. and i said kris jenner the american part? i feel we are in a society called the post-truth society or somebody call it post-christian. and in this culture it is more important to win and do the right thing. i do not think it is healthy. i would love to see our country go back to where it is more important to stand with what is right. people can disagree with what that means at times and people do disagree. people try to do what is right and honest, and then you can find consensus and come up with policies that are more bipartisan. if it is the most important thing to win, it is really hard

to govern our country and have a successful culture and society. i appreciate the kind lady's feedback. host: five minutes left. i know that you are on the ag committee and what is the status of the farm bill? guest: we will have to do an extension until next year. we had a good bill that came out of the house committee but the senate has not produced an ag bill out of committing. -- committee. we have been negotiating but it is not ready yet. they do not have an agreement on a senate and house ag bill. we will do an extension i believe this month and into next year and hopefully we can get it done as soon as possible. the farmers needed. one of the worst egregious things in my view, they inherited an agriculture trade surplus and now we have a $15 million trade deficit in

agriculture and we are the breadbasket of the world and we need a president fighting for our trade and opening up doors for our products. and i think it is just terrible that america has a trade agriculture deficit as the breadbasket of the world. we need a farm bill that helps out the farmers and ranchers. host: hillsborough, new jersey. john. independent. thank you for waiting. caller: you were talking earlier about the deficit in the military needing money, why can't the government do like what they did at the end of world war ii and tax the rich like 80% until we have enough funds to pay down the deficit and make everything reasonable again? like they did after world war ii. guest: i am not a proponent for adt at -- 80% tax rates myself. i guess i have the reverse view

that americans work and it is there money and it is not the government's money. i come from that philosophical background. but i do think we will have to make hard decisions. our discretionary spending and income taxes are more than easily cover discretion angst -- discretionary spending. it is a mandatory spending and we passed that by doing withholdings through our paychecks and we have a medicare and social security withholding. it works when it was 15 workers to one retiree and now we are going to-one and republicans and democrats are going to have to sit down and do hard decisions. i do believe that there will be more taxes and a combination of things. and it is going to be painful. however, our country is facing bankruptcy would be more face -- would be more painful. and we have a country that cannot pay for its defense and that is painful and we have real

adversaries in china, russia and iran. we have isis and al qaeda. it is more painful to lose them to make the tough decisions. we have to be grown-ups and be responsible. host: 90 seconds left, this is tim. independent. go ahead. caller: good morning mr. bacon. listen, for years i have been with you and most of what you are saying i like. look, pete is a good man. matt gaetz was a good man. and every time donald trump, now that he -- now that he got the votes. in your little district he got one million votes but he got 74 million, and he wants this person and i want him to have who he wants. now when mike pence refused to reject unconstitutional valids, -- ballots,do, when they are iny

shrink, they moult, they whine. you got the power, you've got the reins. donald trump got the vote. you need to be second-guessing and spreading rumors about a good man. host: we will give you the final word. guest: i think we would have a constitutional crisis if vice president pence did not do what he did. i study the law. he had no other recourse than to do what he actually did. the law of 18 79 guides our electoral college votes. i want to defend him on that. by the way, president trump is going to get 90% if not 90 5% of his nominees. there are some great ones. many are just outstanding nominations, but we have a checks and balances system.

james mattis and put in, the senate has a constitutional duty to confirm and to give consent on these nominees. and if someone cannot get the 50 votes there, that's part of the checks and balances that we have. that's one of the roles of the senate, and they should do their duty. they need to do due diligence and make sure to give pete hegseth a chance, give them a chance to defend his record and these allegations, but in the end, they get to confirm, provide their consent, and we have got to support that. host: congressman, the caller who was talking about you running for president, opening up a campaign slogan for you, if you want it. "everything is better with bacon." guest: thank you. i want to say, by the way, tom suozzi is coming on. he's a great friend of mine. i want to compliment him before he comes on. host: i appreciate that, and that is ourromo for the next

segment. congressman bacon, i appreciate your time. and we will be right back with tom suozzi. ♪ >> book tv, every sunday on c-span two, features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. here's a look at what is coming up this weekend. at 2:00 p.m. eastern, book tv presents coverage of the 2024 wisconsin book festival. you will hear from authors on concept from refrigeration to the foster care system, what it means to be native american, and more. at 8:00 p.m. eastern, we will feature a gala to honor heritage foundation president kevin roberts, and students for fair admissions for their work advancing american ideals and

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guest: first, in the same article, the first line is something along the lines of everyone is asking, you know, how could people vote for donald trump? when instead they should be asking, why did they vote for donald trump? and, you know, the people in my district that supported me while also supporting donald trump, i think, not only do they know me, but they are sick and tired of the extremism, and they know that i reject the extremism. they want us to embrace common sense, and they want us to work across party lines to get stuff done. people are sick and tired of the finger-pointing and the attacking. they want to work together to solve problems, to address the things they are concerned about, like the border, like the cost of living. in my district, the state and local tax deduction is a big issue. they want public safety. in new york, there's a big debate about public safety over the past several years. i was one of the few democrats endorsed by the police union. so i think we should listen to what the people are saying. they are sick, as i said,.

of the fighting all the time let's work together to solve problems. and that is what the culture wars and the identity politics, what's bothering people, make their lives better, let's work together. host: in the, the difference between democrats and republicans just five seats. if that an opportunity for more working across the aisle, or is that a rep to for more partisanship? guest: well, i think it is essential that we work across party lines. it will be less than five seats, because three will join the trumpet administration, two when matt gaetz resigns, so this is an opportunity for us to actually work together to get things done. let's see if we can stand up to the extremes on both sides, the far-right, the far left, and work together somewhere in the middle to actually solve problems. host: so how do you solve the problem of the border? a problem that has been going on for years in this country, and

congress has attended to address several times. guest: well, it is 30 years, and it has been growing. newcomers from central and south america when i was the mayor of glen cove, a lot of people from el salvador especially gather on street corners, many of whom were undocumented. this is not a new phenomenon. people say oh, the trump and administration was so much better could i don't know if everyone remembers the kids in kaser's. it was not until covid when we saw the numbers drop precipitously to it is not to say there's not blame in the biden administration. there is, there is blame and the trumpet penetration, and every -- in the trump administration, in the obama administration, and in every administration before them. we need to spend money to build a wall, hire more border patrol agent, administration judges, work with folks in mexico and

other central american countries, to stop them from coming to the southern border in the first place. the first thing we need to do is secure the border. a lot of that was in the senate bipartisan deal that was proposed back in february of 2024, earlier this year, a big topic of my special election campaign when i faced george santos. the second thing we need to do is fix the broken asylum system. in 1980, when we started the asylum system, the law was passed in 1980, people were excited about asylum. when someone said something about defective from the soviet union, people would say, yes! america, the beacon of hope throughout the world, we loved the idea of asylum in those days. now we are being overrun with people that are abusing the asylum system, mainly because the cartels and organized crime and the coyotes are making billions of dollars to bring people to our southern border, coaching them to claim asylum. most of these cases are bogus claims.

85% of them are ultimately rejected, where people are denied asylum. the problem is, it takes six, seven years -- the system is so overwhelmed -- to actually adjudicate the cases. so we need to fix the broken asylum system commodity update the law -- system, to update the law that was last updated in 1986, and stop accepting asylum applications at the southern border. have people apply for asylum in safe mobility offices throughout the world. republicans are talking about "remain in mexico," well, "remain in mexico" is not a great policy, because people who come get abuse while they are there, they get assaulted, they get raped, fleeced for their money. asylum center should be set up around the world. we have three of them in the state department and the department of homeland security, where people can apply in safe

locations throughout the world for asylum. they can stay in these safe locations, and if they are accepted for asylum, they can come to america. if they are not accepted, they don't get to come to america. but instead of people waiting in mexico or waiting in the united states america while their cases are adjudicated, instead of applying in places close to where they live in safe locations and have the cases adjudicated there. three, let's modernize the legal migration system and treat people like human beings. people who came here as dreamers when they were little kids and have been here for literally 30 years, 20 years, otherwise followed the rules, this is the country they graduated from high school, they are now either in college or working full or in the military, let's give them a path to legalization. they don't need a path to citizenship. just make it so they can travel freely, they can live their lives, they can pay their taxes, and they can stop looking over their shoulder. but let's legalize them, given the work permit, the green card,

and the authorization for them to live a productive life instead of living in the shadows. same for dps recipients, people have been here 20, 30 years, that we invited to america, when there was an earthquake or civil war or something in their country. let's give them a password to legalization. the former, there is so much bipartisanship. let's work on the afghan readjustment, all the afghanistan's that want to come, that we believe should come to america, let's fix that. let's help the health care workers. let's build a coalition of democrats and republicans, of businesses, badges, and the bible, to work together, to treat people like human beings, to make sure our communities are safe, and to make sure our businesses succeed and our economy can thrive and people can pay their taxes, pay their social congruity, -- security, and live without having to live in the shadows. it is all doable if we can get

over the politics, the extremists, and the finger-pointing to work together to solve the problem. host: let's get to callers and start and long island, glencoe, new york. guest: hey, it is my hometown. host: there you go. democrat, go ahead. caller: good morning, everybody. thank you, c-span for my question is right where he was come up the moderator, concerning mass deportation, but before i get to it, i'm 62, born on the north shore, i've been in glen cove for a year. beautiful people. guest: i'm 62 also come and i'm a regular guy, too. caller: you are a glen cove guide. i'm not going to get into the santos self immolation. let's get to the questions them and that would become i've been thinking for quite a while, and you are the highest-ranking

person i can put this question to, how do you approach them in your caucus with your team with new york, and hakeem's team and everyone else, if trump is playing chess and is a pond move regarding mass deportation of 13 million and he turns around and says let's legislate a worker program without any certainty or absolute path to permanency but with a legal status that if you do not, if you do not register and you are undocumented today, you will be subject to deportation. if you do register, you get a guestworker type of status unless you have a felonious background. how do you think you can work across the aisle to make that happen? i think this is where this is going. guest: i think it would be great if we could give people a pathway to legalization, so that they can work and they can productively contribute to our society, and they can pay their taxes and stop living in the shadows. so i love that idea. as far as mass deportations, you know, they are talking now about deporting criminals.

i support the idea of deporting criminals. that is what we should do. and i work with him to accomplish that objective. the government is not always good at doing things. sometimes they make bad mistakes, and when we start seeing parents pulled away from their kids or kids pulled away from their parents, we start seeing people show up and knock down doors of people that, you know, a criminal used to live there, and now they've moved out in a family is living there, in the family was being intimidated by their door getting knocked down, there are going to be problems that are going to come. it will be much better if we can work together and set up a reasonable system, so that people's rights are protected but also working together to deport criminals. i think what you are talking about sounds like a very reasonable thing. let's work together and get people the authorization to work without living in the shadows. host: next from virginia, susan, a republican for good morning. if you are on with congressman tom suozzi. caller: good morning.

i just have two comments. when the democrats are in power, they are is smash mouth. when they are out of power, it's "let's work together," if you have not noticed that. i'm sorry, i have a cold. the 320 missing children, maybe if we had put them in cages and determine who their parents are, we would not be missing them. so maybe cages were a good idea, sir. thank you. guest: ok, well, i don't think cages were a good idea. let me say clearly, i was first elected to congress in 2016, 2017, when president trump was first elected, and republicans controlled the house and the senate, and i was the vice chairman of the problem solvers caucus. i've been working whether republicans were in power or democrats were in power, because you cannot get anything done in

less people work together across party lines. this past congress, the congress we are sitting in right now, was one of the least productive congresses and the history of the united states of the united states america. harry truman used to talk about the "do-nothing congress." i was in congress for six years, i ran for governor of new york, i got my but kicked in the democratic primary. i did not run for reelection, and george santos became the congressman. people kicked him out, members of congress kicked him out, and i ran in a special election, came back in february. one of the biggest issues we were facing in the country at the time was a bill to fund israel, fund ukraine, and find the taiwan. and the speaker, speaker johnson, was worried about putting the bill on the floor because marjorie taylor greene and others were saying, if you put that bill on the floor, we will kick you out of congress. like we did to kevin mccarthy.

i was the first democrat in the country to say, mr. speaker, if you put that bill on the floor, not only will it passed overwhelmingly bipartisan, but more importantly, if they try to kick you out, i will vote to keep you as a speaker, even though you are a republican and i am a democrat. that became exactly what happened. he put the bill on the floor, overwhelmingly bipartisan. it was one of the few things that got done that was productive in this congress. . it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. and when they tried to kick him out, marjorie taylor greene and others tried to kick him out, many democrats joined in supporting to keep them as the speaker. so we have got to always work together. i don't even know what smash mouth means. we have to try to work together, regardless of who is in power. host: don bacon was on before you come and we were talking about the 119 congress. he believe it will be more productive because three particular members are not

coming back. he did not choose to name those members. in terms of credit, this 119th congress versus the 118th, what are your thoughts? guest: everybody loves bacon. he is a great guy, don bacon. there's a guy named morgan luttrell from texas, don bacon, dan newhouse from texas, business, badges, and the bible to figure out things i was talking about earlier, support of order, figure out the asylum system, modernize the immigration system. if people are sick and tired of extremists, and i think the election results and the tightness of margins between democrats and republicans illustrates that people really want to work together. host: janet in illinois, and independent. you are next. caller: i think the immigration

system needs to be handled, and in the first place of immigration problems are taking place all over the world. europe, central americans want to get to the united states, and the question is, why are these people having to come here in the first place? what has happened to them? have the cartels taken over their home? have the cartels rob them from their land? have they kidnapped their children, left them penniless? what is going on anyway? we need to form a mini united nations of the western hemisphere and find out just what is happening in central and south america that is causing these people to come. we cannot house the whole of the world here in the united states. and neither can england and europe house the whole of africa and asia. host: tom suozzi. guest: was that janet? host: yes, sir. guest: that is such an excellent point, janet, that not enough

people talk about, the root causes of why are so many people fleeing to try to come to the united states of america. paying all of this money to the cartels and the cartels to make the awful trek to come to the southern border, as well as, as you said, if europe and other places throughout the world where they feel is a safe haven. there are more refugees in the world today than there were after world war ii. just think about that. tens of millions of people who have been displaced from their homelands because of war, because of famine, because of climate change, because of persecution, because of economic circumstances. people that have just lost a place to live or where they feel safe to live, and then the root causes of the problem that exists, and every problem we face in our country, every problem we face in our world, quite frankly, but here in america, every problem we face is complicated. nothing is simple.

everybody says "why don't you just" does not know what they are talking about. we need to stop trying to solve problems in an environment of fear and anger where you are just yelling at each other. that does not work and your family, in your business, and it certainly does not work in the halls of congress. if you want to solve problems, you need people of goodwill to sit down across the table from each other and say i think this, i think that, and they may disagree with each other, but let's work together to find common ground, so we can move forward to actually solve the problems that people face. you need people to have good, to have some trust, and to talk to each other and stop the yelling and screaming. it will never solve anything. host: back to your home state, west babylon, new york. this is john, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. mr. tom suozzi? guest: yes. caller: i was raised in glen

cove. i went to glen cove high school, and i think i was probably, was that your father or your brother was my mayor? guest: in the 1950's, my father was the mayor. in the 1970's and 1980's, my uncle was the mayor, i was the mayor in the 1990's, and my cousin was the mayor after that. and we never got along with each other. [laughter] caller: well, that is politics for you. there has always been a suozzi in glen cove, so i know the name quite well kid i graduated from glen cove high school in 1965, so i think it was your father that was my mayor. guest: when you are a young boy. my father was born in italy, came to the united states as a little boy, thought in world war ii, was a navigator on the b 24, came home and went to law school on the g.i. bill, and he did not get a job at the law firm,

because nobody liked the italians, so he had to start a law firm with another italian guy in glen cove, and at 28 years old, he ran for city court judge. he was the youngest judge in the history of new york state. what a country america is. so a lot is what i do is trying to live up to my father's legacy. caller: yeah. what a country is right. i love that. now, let me ask you a question. with illegal aliens, how are you going to find them, especially if they have a gavin newsom to have to deal with, how are you going to find the bad ones and deport them? guest: so, you know, that's a tough question. how do you find the bad ones? that is a really important part of figuring out the right way to do this. but i think democrats would make a big mistake if they try and resist or fight the idea of deporting criminals, and that is something we should be working together on.

i don't think any reasonable person thinks that you can immigrate to the united states of america illegally, commit a crime, and then you should get to stay here. everybody thinks we should be doing 40 -- be deporting criminals. being guilty of a crime is a pretty good definition of what a criminal is. we should be working together to deport criminals, and we should not be resisting that effort. and i can pretty much safely guarantee come as i said earlier, there will be problems that will arise from that. there will be mistakes made from government, as government often makes mistakes and a big, giant bureaucracy, in that process. we have to be reasonable, we have to be smart about how we go about doing that, and to do that, we need to work together to identify who the criminals are and work together to deport them. when you want to deport people, you have to have a place to deport them to.

we don't have an agreement with many countries of which undocumented persons came from to send them back to their country. we are going to have to get agreements from other countries who have to deport these folks back to those countries. so it is really going to be a tough situation. the only way to actually solve it is by getting people to work together. host: just a couple of minutes left with congressman tom suozzi, democrat of new york. this is sean, independent of baltimore. good morning. caller: good day. my question for mr. suozzi is, what is the democrat party going to do to get the voters back they used to have iago like myself. i voted democrat my whole life. i had to vote for trump -- i know, mr. suozzi, you are different, i heard you talking about the border, so you are different from a lot of democrats. the party as a whole, they don't think like you. i voted democrat my whole life

until this past election. i had to vote for trump, because all of the democrats offered me was just transgender, illegal immigration, abortions. and like the last caller brought up, you have to deal with people of your party like gavin newsom, the extremists, that want to act like, they want to protect illegal aliens who commit crimes. and you have the guy, the mayor in chicago, and then the mayor in new york city, you catch him flat for doing the right thing. my question is, how can you convince your party to kind of think like you, like, you know, what are you all doing to get some voters back? because i will tell you, it will be a long time before i go democrat again. thanks. guest: sean, we want you back.

the bottom line is, as i said at the beginning of the show, we have to stop saying, how can they vote for donald trump? you have to say, why did they vote for donald trump? i think you said it better than anybody, people are sick of the extremism. and most democrats, i know this for a fact, most democrats reject extremism. the problem is that not enough people are speaking out against extremism, because they are afraid they're going to get beaten up for expressing their viewpoints, like the viewpoints that you just articulated. people have got to show some courage. one of the ways to get that courage is to actually spend time listening to your voters, listening to people like you, sean, and people who live in my district and coming on shows like this and doing town halls and talking to people. then you have the confidence as an elected official to stand up and say what the people are saying instead of just listening to the pollsters and the consultants and everybody trying to tell you what the party line is. the party line is not working.

listen, republicans have a ton of extremism's as well. you've heard matt gaetz, lauren boebert, marjorie taylor greene, they will not talk about gun violence, because they are afraid of their base, and they will not talk about when president trump does some extraordinarily unusual things. they have the same problem. but i'm a democrat, so i will worry about the democrats and i will worry about america, which is even more important. politicians on both sides need politics, people need to stop being bullied by the base and listen to what real people like you are saying. you know what, i just want to pay my bills and raise my family in safety, want to make enough money so i can purchase a house and educate my kids, so i can have health insurance, and i can retire one day without being scared. that's get back to the basic issues of what we need to do to make people's lives better.

in america, 22 states, minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. if you make $10 an hour and work 50 weeks again, you only make $20,000 a year. $15 an hour, 40 hours a week, two weeks vacation, only $30,000 a year. you will not be able to purchase a house, pay for your kids and health insurance. officials need to get back to the basics. how can we improve people's wages and benefits and their quality of life when it comes to public safety and the environment? let's stop talking about fringe topics and all this attacking of each other and focus on the face of things affecting everybody and their everyday lives. tis goa great question and is something we have to work on. -- it is a great question, something we have to work on. host: representative swazi, democrat of new york, always great having you. coming up, the houses in at

10:00 a.m. eastern. until then, we will be in open forum. anything about the economy or political issues, we can talk about. the numbers, democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001. ,independents, (202) 748-8002. we will get to your calls right after the break. >> c-span now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what is happening in washington, live and on-demand. keep up with the biggest events with live streams of floor proceedings and hearings of congress, white house events, the court, campaigns, and more from politics, all of your fingertips. you can stay current with the latest episodes of "washington journal" and get scheduling information for the c-span tv networks and c-span radio, plus a variety of compelling podcasts.

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if you stay here on the "washington journal" on c-span for the next 26 minutes until the house comes in, it is open form, any policy or political issue you want to talk about, now is your time to call in. kathleen is in mississippi, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. we got out, we voted, we did everything we were supposed to. i still don't understand how trump won. [inaudible] mississippi delta, no matter how much money you sent to mississippi, the people never get it. i am 68 years old. i was $607 in the hole, but who

am i? two-thirds of a person. that is my opinion, and i am sticking to it. 2025, the united states is going down. thank you, and thank you for taking my call. i'm getting confused. thank you. host: this is paul in louisiana, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i called in to speak with representative suozzi. one of the first things he said when he introduced himself was he talked about kids in cages. you probably know, this is a concept that was introduced to the american imagination by the media using images and videos that were captured during the obama administration. and he seemed to suggest that trump had something to do with that during his administration. and maybe he did, but the

procedures that were being used were started during the obama administration. representative suozzi also ended his comments talking about the minimum wage, saying you cannot live on $10 or $15 an hour. he may be right about you probably cannot buy a home in raise a family on that amount, but the minimum wage is supposed to be an entry-level to the economy. the concept used, that is a starting wage, and you should be able to work your way up to a better wage, either by staying with the same company or moving to a company that provides a better offer for your talents. i just wanted to make those comments. host: what is a fair minimum wage? caller: a fair minimum wage is what i will agree to work for. what i think my time is worth.

the fairness, it gets a little slippery. you cannot enforce that. you can use fairness as an argument to sway people in your direction, but there is no such thing as fair. host: to california, this is linda, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to talk to the representative, as well. my question is, how do you figure who is the criminal, talking about deporting criminals? because if you come across the border illegally, you are all a criminal. you committed a crime. so it does not matter if you have been here for 20 years and never done anything as a foreigner. it is against the law, you committed a crime to come over. i think we should stop trying to say, well, we're going to deport

criminals. the other thing that the gentlemen was just talking about, the minimum wage, the minimum wage is what you feel you are worth -- i feel my time is worth $100 an hour. i don't know, if i'm not an educated person, which i do have a masters degree, but if i am not, if i do not have the education, than i do not think i can walk in and tell some of i am worth $100 an hour. host: what do you do? caller: oh, i am a marketing consultant in the entertainment industry here. host: what is the going rate for a marketing consultant in the entertainment industry in california? caller: actually, about $150 to 400 dollars an hour. host: how long you been doing that, linda? caller: i have been doing it now about five years. i was in the industry for a

while, then went to a consulting company. host: what did you do before? caller: i was in marketing. basically, i worked with all the studios here. host: thanks for the call from california. this is larry in new york city, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a challenge for president biden and vice president kamala harris. they know, along with a number of politicians, that the election has been tainted and completely in a belated. they have definitive proof, and we are waiting, those of us who are politicians and in the know -- i'm not a politician, but i am an independent -- they have to move on this, they have definitive proof, and their legacies will be completely tainted if they do not move on their fax and let this be known -- if they do not move on the facts and let this be known. host: what proof are you talking about, larry? caller: i do not have the proof,

but i can tell you now, there are people at the highest levels of government of the united states of america who have that proof. i know it is true, and in time, if they do not do it in a timely manner, it is still going to come out anyway, so they better move on it because our dependence on democracy depends on integrity, and they are taking the highest course of action. host: how do you know this, larry? caller: i cannot tell you the words, but i'm giving you a warning to america from my heart to everybody's heart and soul that this is now in the hands of people who can prove it. we are waiting for them to come forth and make the statements. that is what i am trying to make a plea to the country. asked me the questions you want to ask and i will give you my best answers. host: this is gary in -- republican. caller: i am calling about medicare enrollment, constant

calling, 25 times a day on average, and i keep calling medicare and they said that was somebody else's job. about five layers deep, three layers deep, on the tv, but it is constant. up and down. i got an autistic son up north of chicago, and i have to keep the phones available. i have to get up and answer them, and i told them, you are wearing me out, i cannot get my sleep. you got to do something, well, it is not this, not that. host: have you tried working with your member of congress? offices have constituent services staffers who work with folks in their district. is that an avenue you have tried? caller: they never offered nothing like that to me. host: might be worth finding out who your congressperson's and reaching out to that local office. caller: how many people get

constant calls from medicare. get a hold with trump, sit down with the efficiency guys, and figure something out, like a one-page to send to every medicare and social security person. you sign up. if you want a change, here is a list, check what it is. save all the money on the calls and the tv. you have created a problem, somehow you can fix it. they can't do it. they can't do it, you know. it is other people doing it. they call up saying there from medicare. host: a story in the washington times today on that new department of government inefficiency, focused on low hanging fruit. headlines, vivek ramaswamy sing the new department of government efficiencies official job will be weeding out the low hanging

fruit across federal government, and overhauling entitlement programs, the biggest driver of spending and national debt. this is surely in connecticut, democrat. -- this is shirley in connecticut, democrat. caller: good morning. i want to make a point from the former segment you had with the congressman. the last caller, i guess his name was john, he said he was tired of the extremism. you know, that word has been going around a lot about nothing. everyone in america is an individual. those you spoke about, the women or the transgender people, the others, they all live here in america and have a right to have their say, as well as each and every one of us here. i want to say that you do not vote for a candidate because the

other candidate spoke about another segment of the population, because they are here to work with all segments of the population. trump spoke about one thing, too, and it did not make people feel she should be voted for because he spoke on one issue. another point is also about these people who call in but hunter biden's pardon. the young man did not do anything that i guess the people in congress were doing, but the fact of the matter is that we did not hire hunter biden to run our country and he did something that was wrong. we have people who are hired, like our president elect and all the other ones he is trained to get confirmation on, that have done something illegal and they are not being held accountable for it. and when they are, people are saying people are just going after them because they are in

office. no, if you did something run here in america, like you and i, we automatically have to pay the penalty for it. that is what law-abiding citizens are about or law and order is about. these people are getting away with murder, saying they are being targeted. no, they are not. if you do not do the crime, you will not have to pay the time. host: don in madison, ohio. caller: good morning, john. good morning, c-span viewers. i hope someone can fact-check me, did not the court in colorado find that trump was an insurrectionist? and the supreme court in colorado said that was true. the supreme court said they could not take him off the ballot, but nobody said he was not guilty of insurrection. my question is, if a guy who gives him the oath of office,

probably john roberts, is he committing treason when he gives trump the oath of office? that is my question, sir? could you please have somebody fact-check me on that? host: justin and south dakota, republican. caller: yes, sir. i am a vietnam veteran and i'm currently taking chemo and have been real sick. but i was wondering, i heard that our governor might be placed in the defense, and i was wondering what you think of that . i think she will do a good job. host: you're talking homeland security, governor noem -- governor noem? caller: yes, she has done a wonderful job here in south dakota. the other day i was down in sturgis, i seen a lot of people that were waiting for food

baskets down there. and she cares about the workforce here and about us disabled veterans. i did two years in vietnam, so. and she has been fighting fair our cost-of-living rate, too. 100%, i do appreciate her, and i appreciate c-span. thank you for everything. host: adrian in pittsburgh, democrat. good morning. caller: yes, i want to make a couple of comments and would like someone to listen. what is it about donald trump that appeals to them? because if you are a common man and a working man, and you have got to know that the republicans are for the rich. if the democrat party has

problems or are broken, do it like you do a bridge. a bridge takes you from one side to the other. the democratic party has lifted many people from poverty to a decent standard of living. i just do not understand why our people are leaving the democratic party, because the republicans are not for the common man. that is all i have to say. host: about 10 minutes before the house comes in. the senate also coming in at 10:00 a.m. eastern this morning. you can watch that on c-span2. in the senate, it is that time of the congressional cycle in which outgoing senators give farewell addresses. yesterday it was senator mitt romney's farewell speech. here is a portion. [video clip] >> there are some today who would tear at our unity, who would replace love with hate, who deride our foundation of virtue, or who debase the values upon which things have happened

in the past. i have been in public for 25 years. i have learned that politics alone cannot measure up to the challenges we face. a country's character is a reflection, not just of its elected officials but also of its people. i haleigh washington to return to be one among -- i leave washington to return to be one among them and hope to be a voice of unity and virtue. it is only if the american people merit his benevolence that god will continue to bless america. may he do so is my prayer. [applause] host: mitt romney on the senate floor yesterday. you can watch the full remarks on our website at c-span.org. back to your phone calls in open forum. don i pennsylvanian, -- don in

pennsylvania, democrat. caller: good morning, john. always enjoy calling in when you are the host. i am calling in with a point of interest. earlier in the program, there was a representative of banking on, and one of the calls to him was about we need president trump to lead the house of representatives. i was calling in to let the news know that has happened one time that i am aware of, and that was when james garfield became president, he came directly from the house to the presidency. and i do believe that is the only time that has happened in american presidential history. host: what do you know about james garfield? what are your thoughts about him as president? caller: he was not in that long. in 1880, he ran for the senate

but chose not to take that seat because he was nominated and eventually elected for the presidency. but he served, i think, like 17 years in congress. he was a general in the civil war. i understand he could write with both hands, left and right. and i think he also was very well-educated in the italian language. host: who is your favorite president? caller: i have several that i appreciate very much. but one that is always up on the top for me is lyndon johnson. host: why johnson? caller: johnson was instrumental in a lot of the changes in the country, and he came in under difficult circumstances, you know, involving the assassination of president kennedy.

and i just think that he tried to do very well with the country with a lot of programs he initiated. and if i remember correctly, i think he created two different departments of government during his term. host: thanks for the call from pennsylvania. you might be interested in c-span's historians survey of presidents, presidential rankings, the historians engage in that survey ranking presidents on various aspect of leadership. you mentioned james garfield, ranked right dead in the middle, latter middle, ranked 27th in the latest survey. it was first done back in 2001, and he was ranked 29th, so he has moved up since then. but you can look through that

survey of presidential leadership, 10 aspects of leadership that historians from across the board look at. that is available on our website at c-span.org. pat in sun city, arizona, republican. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want first to pray for all the people in north carolina, they are still living in tents. god bless them and god bless this country. i have never seen this country in my 72 years with the corruption, the hatred, and we have got to all come together and work together. and where -- whoever is the president, all of us work together with our new president. god bless america. the homelessness, never seen it so bad. seniors on fixed income suffering, people suffering at the gas stations, grocery stores. god bless america. host: paducah, kentucky, is

next, republican from the bluegrass state. caller: yes, i would like to make two comments. i would like to comment on the guy who called it while ago about colorado, calling trump an insurrectionist. i did not know it was colorado's drop to figure out who we should vote for president or not -- colorado's job to figure out who we should vote for president or not. people are talking about what trump is going to do, well, how many people did obama deport, 5 million? i do not remember hearing people having complaints when he was deporting people. i just figured maybe people could chill out when he starts doing what needs to be done. that is all i got to say. thanks. host: what needs to be done? caller: we need to deport the illegal people in this country, what needs to be done. everybody comes to this country,

we cannot take the whole world into this country. they say we're not going to be able to eat because our food won't be picked. i tell you what, i was a bricklayer for 30 years, in the last 10 years, they say illegals are doing the jobs that white people don't want to do, but i tell you what, you would be hard to find a white bricklayer now. i know a lot of guys that did it, just like i did. because i wanted a fair wage and wanted good conditions. that all went away. host: this is susan in woodstock, georgia, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i have really nothing bad to say about anybody. but i just would like to put this out there, because if robert f kennedy, jr., gets in,

i want him to please work on getting generic drugs made in the usa. because the seniors, they all get generic drugs. if you are on medicare, that is what you're going to get, and you are going to get some pretty crappy ones. we do not need them to come from india or china, we need that made in the usa. i do not know who to call or tell, but this needs to be done. it will help the seniors greatly to get better medication. host: this is bill in the yellow hammer state, republican. caller: good morning. about the only time we have had total open border for immigration was in the 1600 and 1700's, and just ask the native americans how well that worked out. we cannot be an open border and not be ruining this country. the immigration, another word

for it is invasion. and that is what is occurring, has occurred, and has been endorsed by people saying it created a lot of jobs. it did create a lot of jobs and also created a lot of other problems. host: back to georgia, this is rudy, democrat. caller: you know, i 73 years old -- i am 73 years old, and we're celebrating the university of florida's first black quarterback, graduated from my high school in 1970. i used to sell frank's at the gator bowl and watched the university of florida played the university of georgia when i was 12 years old, and there was not one black player on the field. and the only black fan, there were none in the stands. this whole issue of inclusion is what the country is struggling

with. the days of segregation, separate but equal, we are not going back to that. you know. nfl, doug williams, the first black quarterback, we need to just come together as a country and recognize the whole idea of fairness. that is what dr. king talked about. host: floridagators.com, a column from a year ago, first black quarterback, reflecting 50 years later on his experience in college football. taking your phone calls in open form as we wait for the house to commonly, in the neck -- as we wait for the house to come in, in the next minute or so. let's go to a call, independent. caller: i have a question. shortly before trump left office

the first time, a member of his staff appeared in brazil. and then shortly after that, train loads of immigrants were seen on top of the trains heading north. my question is, now that trump is going to come back into office, jason miller has real pillar -- has reappeared on trump's staff. nobody has ever mentioned him. his part. host: he was working during the campaign, as well, ronald. caller: never heard of him here in minnesota, or i haven't. host: you want to learn more about jason miller. caller: yes. what was his part on the immigration? host: that is going to do it for us today on the "washington journal." we now