♪ host: good morning. it is sunday, december 22 2024. much of the work of washington

is wrapping up for the year, winding down the last of the biden administration and preparing for president elect donald trump's second term. how are you feeling about the next trump presidency? if you are feeling optimistic, (202) 748-8000. if you are feeling pessimistic, call us at (202) 748-8001. if you are not sure, that number is (202) 748-8002. you can also text us. that number is (202) 748-8003. please be sure to include your name and where you are writing in from. you can find us on social media and on x at @cspanwj. there has been quite a bit of polling looking how americans are feeling about the incoming trump administration, including reporting about a poll finding a majority of americans are optimistic about trump's agenda

despite tariff concerns. a majority of americans say they are optimistic about the policies president elect trump will pursue in his incoming administration, according to a new poll from monmouth university. that poll found 53% of americans are either very or somewhat optimistic about trump's second term, a slight rise from the weeks prior to his first term when just 50% of americans said they were optimistic. the only segment of americans less optimistic about trump's second term then first term are democrats with just 10% saying they look forward to the next four years. there have been other polling as reported in reuters showing how people are feeling about trump more generally. in a polarized america, 41 percent of americans have a favorable view of trump according to a poll. about two in five americans view

present elect donald trump favorably, fewer than when he was on the cost of his first presidential term, a new poll showed, so 41% of respondents in the poll, which closed sunday, said they viewed trump favorably well 55% viewed him unfavorably as his january 20 inauguration approached. that was down from his favorability rating in december 2016 after his stunning victory in that election, even though for months he had garnered ratings around 40%. the postelection boost carried in the initial month of his 2017 to 2021 term. that is looking at how people are feeling about his policies as well as trump in general. he spoke with reporters at mar-a-lago and says he is now better able to enact his agenda

this time around. >> we are inheriting big challenges at home and all over the world. we had no wars. we had no problems. we had no inflation. we had less than 1%, perfect number, and then we had inflation the likes of which i would say i do not believe the country has seen. they say 38 years. i think it is probably ever. we will take care of all of it. we will get prices down. we have more energy than anybody else. we don't have to buy energy from venezuela when we have 50 times more than they do. we will not rest until america is richer, safer, and stronger than ever before and we have a big head start. last time, we did not and we did not know a lot of things. by the time we got it up and going, it was incredible.

we built the greatest economy in history for that time and we will do it again. i believe more so because we understand the people of washington. i know them. i did not know any of them. i relied on other people for recommendations. some were good recommendations. we had a lot of great people and we had some people i would not have used in retrospect and now i know them better than anybody other -- better than they know themselves. host: there's reporting in the hill that democrats recalibrate their resentment to trump. democrats are not planning an all hands resistance to president elect donald trump, at least not in the 2016 style when lawmakers, activists, volunteers, and angry voters mounted a party what effort to curb his newfound influence in

washington. where so much was once unprecedented come trump is now familiar. ahead of january 2025, the lack of a unified democratic a bottle to a second term is the latest sign the parties beginning to try to figure out what went wrong before banding together. last week, democrat senator chris murphy of connecticut spoke out against trump's agenda and warned about an oligarchy of wealthy elites trying to take power. >> i am on the floor today to talk to my colleagues about something happening in front of our eyes, a set of events that are not random. they are connected to one another. they threatened to destroy this country that we love. everybody can see it, but for some reason, it the exhaustion of the aftermath of a brutal election, maybe the distraction

of the christmas season or just instinctively instead of fight, there are too many people denying to themselves what they are seeing. what is happening now is that donald trump and his billionaire advisors are unfolding for the country in real time a plan to transition this country from a democracy to a restrictive oligarchy where political opposition is silenced, the media is not free, and were government exists to enrich a small cabal of elites that surround the man in charge. i know a lot my colleagues see how these thoughts exist and connect and i know a lot of you see the specter of the disaster that is coming. if you do not, i want to spend a

few minutes laying it out. to make things simple, i will focus on three events that happened in the last seven days. recommendation by house republicans that trump critic liz cheney be subject to criminal prosecution, the lawsuit filed by trump against an iowa pollster, and a decision by abc to pay trump $50 million to get rid of a bogus lawsuit. host: now we are ready to hear your perspectives on how you're feeling about the incoming trump administration. some comments we have already received, sandy in indiana says i am pessimistic regarding trump's predey, beginning with his picks f cabinet members. on x, deb johnson says, i'm optimistic our future is in the best hands. however, the current

administration is doing everything it can to take our country down before he leaves. another comment from x, i am optimistic that trump will bankrupt our nation. now to your calls. james is in florida and is pessimistic about the incoming administration. good morning. caller: i am quite pessimistic. i am one of these poor people out here trying to make a living and trying to live my life and be as objective and fair as i can be about things, but i will tell you? this day, that two years from now he will be impeached. he will be lucky to make it two years. host: what has you pessimistic about the incoming trump presidency? are there policies? caller: there is not anything i find positive.

he is chaotic. this last deal with the passage of the cr and so forth, he just threw a wrench in the works. it is like he enjoys stirring things up as much as he can. i'm not saying that was particularly right, but i doubt he knew anymore about it than i did. if he is talking, he is lying. >> let's hear from dan in kentucky, who is optimistic about the second trump turn -- term. >> trumped arrangement syndrome is still strong and steady, but the -- he will get impeached by a bunch of rhinos but i believe he will do good like he did the first term and what -- and got quite a bit done but being that he had to fight the democrats, republicans, and mainstream media. he got a lot of things done. i think there will be more done this time because everybody is

tired of the same old, same old and it is like the last four years. every time i got a cost-of-living increase, they took more away than they gave me on something else, like this year. you get a $24 raise, they take $26 from you, so every year i get less and less. host: you are referring to social security? caller: yes. i got a $24 increase and they took $26. it has been like that for the last four years. i would rather them not give me a raise and i will be at least breaking even. instead of losing every year. i always had extra. host: are there particular things about policies the president-elect trump suggested that you are looking forward to? caller: deportation, closing the

border. hopefully -- i'm hoping he can bring groceries down because i am a diabetic and i'm trying to be good. i like salad, but all the stuff you get for salads is awful high . once prices are upcoming you know how hard they are to come down. you have a better chance bringing gasoline down then groceries. people say they are used to it now and keep it that way. if it is going to be like that, the real poor people are having a hard time. just ask the elderly having benefits cut. i don't know how they figure it. they say -- they take it during

the fall but during the summer you are not using that much heat . during the winter, my bill doubles. that way they would not be gouging me and taking more for me than i am getting. host: i'm going to go to another caller in maryland, who is not sure. good morning, vincent. caller: i am not sure about what is going to happen except that, based on his past history i am sure it will be better than now. the last caller -- social security will not be cut. medicare and benefits -- everything will be in place. foxconn etc., my concern is the

maltreatment. he is an old man elderly. he is a senior citizen. your own wall street journal said he cannot seem to function quite yet you people come and c-span is supposed to be in top of these things come it seems to me you are covering this up here and trump will do fine. my concern is national security. biden cannot even sign a bill. who is going to sign it? who is running our country now? one caller said he was appalled that unelected officials are running it. we have unelected officials right now running our country. it is not biden. c-span, you deny these facts. anyway, everybody have a merry christmas.

things will be fine with trump, certainly a lot better. host: charlie is in new york and is pessimistic about the incoming trump administration. why is that? caller: i feel he knows the game better now than he did when he was first elected and i think the gop is more willing to roll over and do his will than before. i do not see any republican with a backbone that can stand up to him and his agenda is taking us back to a place where we should not be as a country. we should be going forward. host: let's hear from paul in the u.k., who is not sure. caller: fingers crossed what we will have another peaceful road if mr. donald trump does give real peace over the next few

years. if not, we will have peace beyond all that time. the world is at peace and also. guest: -- host: let's hear from paul in new york, whose optimistic about the trump administration. caller: it is going to be better than what we got -- what was supposed to be in the white house now because no one knows where joe biden is or kamala harris. as i'm concerned, trump's president. he has already taken control and i want to thank him for noticing that 40% pay raise that congress wanted to give themselves. no way to a 40% increase. host: i do not believe it was a 40% pay raise. i believe it was 6%. let me pull up the exact details

so we can get the number right. continue your point while i look for that. caller: i am looking forward to seeing the border finally getting secured and getting fentanyl out of this country. the democrats are screaming about drug addiction but they do nothing about it. as far as everybody else saying the gop is going along with trump's agenda, what you think the democrats would do if harris was elected? they would go along with her agenda that is the way this is played. host: before i want -- let you go, i want to let you know about the 40% number. reuters says the bipartisan stopgap spending bill did not include a 40% pay raise for congress. the temporary spending bill would have made u.s. congress members eligible for a 3.8% salary increase, not 40% as suggested in posts online that

misinterpret a report on congressional salaries. those posts refer to the bipartisan deal unveiled on december 17 that was the original continuing resolution and the revised stopgap bill does not have the pay raise but the version included a raise to the national debt ceiling, so i'm trying to find the exact details here. the bill would have ended a long time pay freeze allowing lawmakers to be eligible for a 3.8% salary increase in january, which would have been equal to $6,600. that is the detail on that there. do you have other points before i let you go? caller: thank you for fact checking me on that. i appreciate that. still, the working class in america is not even getting that. have a merry christmas, everybody. host: carl is in chicago,

illinois and is pessimistic about the incoming trump administration. good morning. why is that? caller: there are two principal things that concern me. one is trump's unwillingness to even acknowledge climate change, which is our only real existential threat in the world because humans are big animals and we need a lot of clean air and not overly warm world. there is a book written, how democracies fail. one of the printable parts of the book indicated if the two political parties in congress cooperate they can get the work of democracy done. if they think of each other as totally the awful people they

will not manage to negotiate and that concludes the logical thing so those are the biggest concerns that worry me about the trump administration and the congress we have seen. thank you. host: arthur is in florida and is optimistic about trump's next term. caller: yes. if we can put the waste in our government -- that will be a big improvement. if we can take care of america first and not be -- get involved and everybody else's conflicts, that will be an improvement. thank you. host: president-elect donald

trump has suggested and is planning to set up a new department of government efficiency to deal with government waste. what do you think of that? caller: i think that is a step in the right direction. host: jasper is pessimistic about the incoming trump administration. caller: i listen to these poor republicans that live in rural areas, all these people that voted for trump. look at the last four years and the years that trump was in office. this country was in ruin. we were out of jobs. people were in food lines. supply lines broke down. he was trying to hide documents. during the pandemic times.

and now he is coming in with the same policies. they pursed -- the first policy wants to do is bill of the farmers. he messed it up. you know what i'm saying? every time they talk about money -- there is nothing about community. i heard these poor jokers calling from out of the country, saying i had more money under trump. you did not. trump gave you a tax break but now your retirement -- when you get social security taxes, you will have less. trump is not going to do nothing. the next six months, you will see the difference. we'll be going back into the depression because nobody wants to work with trump. we is headed for a hard time, america. it is coming. thank you. >> jeffrey is in north carolina

and is optimistic about trump's second term. caller: thank you for taking my call and happy holidays. c-span does an excellent job. it is amazing that the one -- everybody has their opinion. it is just over the top. nobody is talking about this. he has 34 felonies convicted. you have people out here that have maybe one infraction that cannot even have opportunity. host: what are you optimistic about? caller: what he is going to do is make sure. we are talking about -- are we talking about stopping drugs?

he is going to make sure pending charges or litigations -- as far as the drugs, this is another. they really wanted to think about how -- think about the black communities that was previously destroyed to the present because of the drugs infestation back then. there is no way they are going to realistically fix that, what should have been the top agenda in america back then. this is just now overlapping. as far as the people, it is just beyond that. all these people are looking at that is no big deal. where can anybody else be a felon or convicted and get a job like that? host: it seems you are not

actually optimistic and called in on the optimistic line, but jeffrey did mention policies around drugs and there is quite a bit of reporting regarding various policies that the incoming trump administration might do. this is from the washington university -- the university of maryland and washington post has done a poll looking at support for various trump policies, including one of the things that trump has associated with the drug problem in united states, which is mass deportations. in terms of using the u.s. military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, 42% of people in the pool supported the idea versus 54% opposing that specific idea. let's hear more from president-elect donald trump

when he was speaking at his news conference about another of his policy proposals, tariffs. >> we took in $600 billion and more in taxes and tariffs from china. no other president got $.10. we will be treating people fairly, but the word reciprocal is important because somebody charges us -- if india charges us 100% and we charge them nothing and we send them a bicycle, they charge us a lot. brazil charges a lot. if they want to try just, that is fine, but we are going to charge them. the senators -- some of them are not necessarily business people. they say that is how it is going to be.

make our country rich. tariffs will make our country rich. i did not have any inflation. we put taro's on steel. if i did not, 50% and more, there would not be steel. china and others. we took a fortune here and we made a fortune on it. tariffs, which we will do, and being reciprocal with other nations. it will make our country rich. our country right now loses to everybody. almost nobody do we have a surplus with. there are a couple countries. host: now back to your comment about whether you are feeling optimistic or pessimistic about the next trump presidency. we have heard from several of you on social media. larry in michigan says i am excited about trump's second

term. the u.s. first policy will lead to more prosperity and security. also, larry from new jersey ying i am very pessimistic. trump is very transactional and easitracted by flattery. allen in west virginia. as som that loves our form ofnment, checks and ba, free and fair elections, and peaceful transfer of power, i am pessimistic. all the signs are in front of us. the president-elect does not respect these and a percentag of his followers do not. then kristin in maine pessimistic with hope for optimism. trump destroyed the economy with hianagement of the pandemic. you judge a leader by their actions during a crisi if we have anothereseen disaster, i believe he will fail again. 's hope he can just coast off biden's accomplishments, the

american rescue plan, chips and science act, and more. on x, i was peimtic the first time and i was right. it will be worsehitime guaranteed. it is a government of, by a command for the oligarchs now. good luck getting it back. now let's get back to your calls. dan is in atlanta and is pessimistic. why is that? caller: good morning. the reason why we have to build the farmers out is because of the tariffs that trump imposed on china. the american people are actually paying the bill and act -- also this is a fact that you can look up in fact-check. trump had over $7.5 trillion last time he was in office and these people are worried about spending. trump is going to add another 10

billion -- another $10 trillion to the economy and the reason why he wants the debt limit raised it so he can add even more and all of those congressman who were during the last session trying to keep the government open, all those republicans talking about spending, those are the same guys who voted for that $7.5 trillion the last time, but when the democrats come in all of a sudden they want to be fiscally responsible. they just set the country up for another massive tax cut. and during the last administration. outside of the tax cut, what else did congress do? it was infrastructure. they never spent anything. the only thing trump did in the first term was the tax cut. that is the only piece of

legislation he is going to be concentrating on now. it is just giving the billionaires another tax cut and this is crazy. i hate to say this. also, this is in the space of america having under joe biden of the strongest economy in the history of the world. this is just crazy. host: droll -- joel is in arkansas and is not sure. caller: merry christmas to our country and everyone. well, i sit here and listen to all these crybabies calling in and it is just disheartening. they think the government owes them a living. i never -- i have never taken a dime from the government.

i served in the military. i retired from the military. i fought in two wars, korea and vietnam. i served in germany in the cold war, but i do not understand why these people are crying so much during christmas time. they should go to church today and thank the good lord they have food on their table. host: what do you think of trump's next term? caller: i don't understand why trump wants this headache. he is an old man now. i am 82 and he is pushing me and he does not need these headaches, but the people do not understand trump is trying to correct the last four years. joe biden opened up the southern border to let 15 million people in here.

that is where your tax dollars are going, to pay for these people to have a place to live and eat and all of that. so we got 15 million people. i do not think trump can get them out because the aclu and all these lawyers are going to make money bike trying to keep these people here, so i do not see that happening. and he has been shot at twice. he probably will not make this four years. the media are fanning the fire to kill this man and they do not have their eyes open these democrats. how are they so well off today? you only have a 2.2% cost-of-living. i do not need mine. i save my money. i am not a rich man and i am not well educated. you can see how i talk. i only have a sixth-grade education, but i have been very

blessed by our god and lord, so you people crying so much, get down on your knees today and have a very merry christmas. goodbye. host: bill is in new york city and is optimistic about trump's second term. caller: i am very optimistic. i believe in this country. my family has been here for hundreds of years dealing with this country and their problems. i am highly optimistic and i know we are going to do good. i am tired of the scare tactics. we have a lot of black people calling in especially and they are kind of crying about all the scare tactics. please stop that. we have been through much more. america first. i think that is what this administration is going to start saying.

and democrats need to learn to deal with the grassroots better. or else it is going to happen again so maybe they need to go back and regroup and the guy from georgia -- some people are old. until they are paid, america can never be america. i am going to land my plane with that. have a great day. host: michael is in massachusetts and is pessimistic about the incoming trump administration. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i am pessimistic because president-elect trump has already announced what he wants to do. most troubling of all is raising the debt limit or getting rid of it for a while. this man has bankrupt five casinos and has raised that and

we are in the area -- that is $1 billion and he is always saying he knows how to make money in such a way. if he is announcing that is a key part of his program, i find that very troubling, particularly giving -- given his record. we all know the devil is a liar. a liar is worse than a thief because a liar can damage you with damage you cannot correct. a thief, you can always hopefully recover what he stole. trump is not only a liar, he is a serial liar. after lie after lie after lie. if that is not the devil, i do not know what it is. then he comes in and says he is

going to save america? he is not saving america. he brings in a south african stolen blood diamond for which anyone of caller doing that would be in jail because of the blood diamonds and blood gold and he comes over here and buys our legislatures -- legislators and they shut the government down. host: i'm guessing you are referring to elon musk. there was -- and his role in potentially delaying the continuing resolution that has since passed. last thursday, a massachusetts representative, who is a top democrat on the ways and means committee, chided republicans for what you are talking about,

walking away from that bipartisan deal and being influenced by president trump and elon musk. let's listen. [video clip] >> your currency in this institution is your word. we reached an agreement. we came to modest achievements. and a tweet changed all of it? can you imagine what the next two years are going to be like if every time congress works is will and then there is a tweet or from an individual who has no official portfolio who frightens members on the republican side with a primary and they succumb? this is -- institution has a separate responsibility based upon the separation of powers. members of congress do not serve under presidents of the united states. it is called the national principal. i am in favor of aid to north

carolina and support to the farmers of missouri. we come to the aid of the american family at moments like this, but you walked away from your word and agreement. that is what we are bothered by hearing a simple suggestion for the president-elect that you want to abandon that principle? this is what this is about. this is trying to raise the debt ceiling to disguise a tax cut they want to offer later on. >> the idea of any the increase to the debt ceiling to the continuing resolution did not make it into the legislation that passed. let's go to some comments we have been receiving v text and social media. jim in maryland says the best prediction of a trump presidency is to look at evng he has been falsely accusing democrats

start with weaponizing the justice department a l'affaire, which he has engaged in against political opponents and journalists here in the polling from the washington post asked about those topics, and particular this idea of firing fbi director christopher wray or having the justice department investigate trump's political rivals and found relatively lower support for those ideas compared to those opposed with 54% being opposed to the idea of firing fbi director christopher wray and 60% being against the idea of having the justice department investigate trump's political rivals. when it comes to the media, 80% of people polled were opposed to putting reporters in jail for writing stories that trump dislikes. let's hear from kendra in virginia, who is not sure about her feelings related to the

incoming trump administration. good morning. are you there? all right. i can hear you now. caller: i guess i am sort of optimistic and pessimistic, so optimistic -- i feel like -- i do not know. the media for the next four years is going to be tearing down trump and his administration like they have been doing for the past almost 10 years now, so i am not optimistic about that part. that is more pessimistic, but as far as optimistic with trump coming in and his administration, i do feel he will do a good job. i do -- i am also optimistic about the media will now let us

know who is running the country because for the past four years we do not really know who was running the country but because the media always wants to talk about trump and keep his name every day mentioned and try to say bad things about his administration or whatever, we will always know at this point who is going to be running the country. we are always going to know who is making decisions. host: are there particular policies that president-elect trump has suggested that you are looking forward to or worried about? caller: i am looking forward to him closing the border. i am looking forward to him possibly -- i know when he was running he was stating that there would be no tax on tips.

certain things like that would help the middle class. i believe he will do a better job than joe biden did or whoever was running the country for the past four years at least because we are not sure if it was joe biden and we know it is not kamala harris. do you have other questions for me? host: no, unless you have other comments. caller: that is it but i am leaning toward being optimistic. host: john is in florida and is optimistic. caller: good morning and thank for having me on. i's want to highlight arkansas and new york's -- i want to highlight arkansas and new york's comment. i have some side hustles that i do to make vacation money and things you want to do every year. i have a plan for next year to

try to in the minute some of our debt. we are going to save our money more. we are not going to compete with the joneses. i recognize this is a capitalist society where people are able to sell things for whatever price the buyer wants to buy them for, so we as a nation decide we do not want to buy at a high price. we have to take responsibility personally for that and becoming too social has had us out there competing aggressively at prices we cannot afford. i believe we are more spoiled than our forefathers and elders. he had a sixth-grade education and he is doing well with his money by staying within his means. that is important. the gentleman from new york said his family has been here for hundreds of years and they are making good on the american dream. it is personal. it is not this large brush you can stroke over the canvas.

you have to look at what you need. it will be the family dynamic that breaks through for us, if you are able to educate your kids because the country does not need you to run out at 18 years old. you can get your education and help your family more importantly you have to be responsible in people that we are bringing into our family, more responsible with our money and conscious about what we want to do for our future. never had the government come in and knock on my door and say i have to stop working. my money goes further and i have to make that adjustment so i can stretch it out as much as possible. i have grown over the last four years in the financial services industry and it has educated me on how money works so i'm utilizing that information to help my family and friends be more fiscally responsible.

we are a country where he won. that is how that goes. we are not going to sabotage things by not participating and helping. we want this country to do well. if you do not have those insurance policies in place to take care of your family in the long run, you need not make it easy on them and they need to get back to work. put your head down. do what your parents and grandparents did and lock into that mentality. host: jb is in texas and is pessimistic. caller: i guess i am pessimistic because he failed me. i kind of give the republicans a chance. i gave bush a chance and everybody. as far as trump goes, his first

tour, i said if he does three things i will vote for him for reelection and the three things were taxes. he was going to fix obamacare and the border. as far as taxes go, the tax bill that they passed in december of 2017, i did my 2018 taxes and it turns out the price of gas went up two points after that and my annual savings on gas was less than my increase -- decrease. i lost more having to buy gas then i got on my tax break. as far as fixing obamacare, all you had to do was look at tv and watched john mccain give the

thumbs down. they tried 34 times to get rid of obamacare. that is how he was going to fix it? by getting rid of it? they are still trying to get rid of it. watch what they do this time. the next thing he did, he was going to fix the border. as soon as he picked up on the border wall by misunderstanding what his aides were try to tell him, he gave up on fixing the border and look what he did prior to the election when he turned down the bipartisan bill that everybody who has anything to do with the border agreed was the best thing since sliced bread and that it would have fixed the border but he needed it -- he needed the border issue to get reelected, so let's watch what happens and if you will take the same bill and put it

into law after the first two years that he is in office. he will take that bill and rename it quit like he did with the trade agreement with the u.s., canada and mexico. he will rename it quit make changes around the edges, and that will be it. st: let's get a couple of your mments from text message and social media. rcy says pessimistic. it is the trump roller coaster ride again now that he knows who the grt people are im really frightened. deb johnson said i am optimistic our future is in the bt nds. the current administration is doing everything it can to take our country down before it leaves. elvin brown says -- we already read that one, but let's hear from greg inleveland, ohio who says iill lower prices. i will end the war in ukraine

within 24 hours. i ll end inflation and deport l illegal immigrants. i will secure the border. this is not fantasy island. speaking of ukraine president-elect trump at his news conference last week spoke about the conflict in the mideast and ukraine. >> there is a light shining over the world. we are trying to help get hostages back with israel and the middle east. we are working very much on that. we are trying to get the war stopped, that horrible war going on in ukraine. we are going to -- we have a little progress. it is a tough one. it is nasty. people are being killed at levels nobody has ever seen. the only thing that stops a bullet is a body, a human body, and the number of soldiers being killed on both sides is

astronomical. i have never seen anything like it. i get reports every week and it is just -- they are going down. nobody has seen anything like it. it is a very flat surface and very flat land. that is why it is great farming land. it is the bread basket for the world, actually, but it is very flat and there is nothing to stop a bullet but a body. there is no protection, no nothing. what is happening there is worse than people are reporting on both sides, so we have been doing our best and we will see what happens. since the election, i have been working to put the world at ease a little bit to get rid of the wars. we had no wars when i left office and now the whole world is blowing up. host: let's get back to her calls about your feelings about the incoming trump presidency. brock is in new york and is optimistic. caller: how are you doing?

can you hear me now? host: i can hear you. why are you feeling optimistic about trump's second term? >> we got the popular vote on the house and the senate. things were not going well joe biden and no one wanted to admit it. now they repeat the same lies and it is just -- with everything going on in our country we need to give him a chance. he is not even in office yet. see how it goes. host: are there particular policies you are looking forward to? caller: i like him closing the border. that would help me and my family. what other questions? host: just wondering what

policies you were looking forward to because i have a story from the washington post looking at questions they were asking in terms of why swing state voters voted for trump and high on the list was immigration and the border, with 15% of people saying that was one of the reasons they supported trump in the election. also high on the list, the economy, that trump is a business person, that he was a better candidate and they liked him better and than others just because they opposed harris and the democrats and biden. jason is in virginia and is pessimistic about the incoming trump administration. >> it is funny, the people that talk about the border. before trump got into office, obama supported more people than anybody. trump said he is going to close the border. fine. close the border.

you talk about inflation. the two go hand in hand. you close the border and get rid of the immigrants. you might as well shut las vegas down because half the people in the service industry are immigrants so you want to get rid of all of them? watch prices go up. with tariffs, tariffs co-op, who is going to pay that? not elon musk. we are the ones because tariffs are like anything else. those handed down to the people that buy those products. if you get rid of obamacare -- they have been doing that for years. what do you have to take the place of it? nothing. they have a concept and idea and nothing in place. when we went down to mississippi and arkansas, people complained about obamacare.

they didn't want it. where they were asked what you had, the aca. it is the same thing. trump is concerned about one thing, trump. the good thing is we have 720 days to deal with this. that is when midterm elections come around. when people find out that things will be worse, democrats will be back in office. they have control the house and senate and presidency. trump's first two years, they did that. things got worse during that time. when you got that cases from america will soon learn you have to have a real president more concerned about the country instead of himself.

trump worried about the legal things he has going on, but we will one day learn this lesson, that the president is for himself first. >> deborah is in new york and is not sure. >> my concern is with media. trump says he is going to put the media and check, but even in the clip you just showed was donald trump on ukraine and what he had to say about ukraine. could somebody tell me what he had to say about ukraine and ending the war? people are dying. nothing stops a bullet like a person. what does that mean in terms of these are the things -- constructive things we can do or that i am talking about to end the war? any more than he set about health insurance. he was going to come in in two

weeks and have a wonderful bill. almost eight years later, all he has is a concept of a bill. i think there is a lot to be concerned about. host: carla is in illinois and is optimistic about trump's second term. >> i voted trump. i had a comment about the clip you showed of richard neal when he said in government your word is your bond? if your word is your bond, why did president biden lie and pardon his son? i would like that explained to me. if your word is your bond, why did he lie about pardoning his son question mark he said he would not do it and turned around and did it. that is a lie to the american public. host: are there particular

policies you are looking forward to in the coming trump administration? caller: the border for sure. everyone is saying if you close the border we do not have anyone to pick our lettuce. what happened to ai? i thought we had a lot of machinery taking jobs. i go to walmart and i have to use a self check out because there is no one working in a register so ai can do that. they have farm equipment. they do not need all these workers because machinery and ai will take over every job. we will be dependent on the government eventually because there will be nothing for us to do. people need to get that through their head. ai is going to be the death of us. host: let's go to see more in arizona, who is pessimistic about the next trump term. caller: president trump lied to

us for eight years. he threatens to destroy freedom of the press. he is appointing people that are incompetent. i do not want elon musk involved in running this country. they are in the process of dividing and -- dividing and conquering the country and not doing like ronald reagan tried to do and work with the democrats. he is the president who should have been convicted on a lot of things and was not. this is a bad man and the people who want him are unbelievable that they want to trust him. host: ameen is in texas and is optimistic about the next trump presidency. caller: i dialed the wrong one. i am not optimistic about trump. what i am as scared to death because if people will remember, whenever the world got to where the leaders thought they were

bigger and batter and more influence than god, god stepped in. trump is not god and he has never done anything but lie and stole from anybody he has dealt with and now he is talking with elon musk. what he is doing is trying to get all the billionaires together so he is getting everybody to do what he wanted. he is no good and i am disappointed in the american people who vote for him i don't trust thieves, i don't trust liars and i sure don't trust somebody that doesn't want to fight in our service. thank you very much. host: ok.

and then up next, we have washington journal's annual holiday authors meet series kicking off this morning. eight days of authors that will be hearing from across the political spectrum whose books we think shine a spotlight on important aspects of american life. in starting this morning, we will begin with the founder of the literary platform well read black girl discussing her book, a memoir in praise of the books that saved me. we will be right back. ♪ since its founding in 1992, the innocence project has been responsible for doing hundreds of wrongfully convicted people in the united states out of prison.

today on q&a, attorney and innocence project director joins us to talk about the history of the organization and some of the clients they successfully representative of the years including the two men convicted of killing malcolm x in 1965. >> the original trial in the late 1960's, another gentleman took the witness stand and said he was the shooter and that he committed the crime with two other people he refused to name. for jury rejected that information but what we know that law enforcement actually had evidence that corroborated his statement and corroborated his assertion that he was the shooter and the her two people had committed this crime. but that information was withheld. >> innocence project executive director tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a.

you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on the free c-span now app. witness democracy in action with c-span. as republicans take control of both chambers of congress and a new chapter begins with the swearing in of the 42nd president of the united states. don't miss the opening day of the 119th congress. watch the election of the house speaker, the swearing in of new members of congress and a first-aid leadership for john thune the new senate majority leader. live from the house chamber, witness vice president kamala harris preside over the certification of the electoral vote to officially confirm donald trump as the winner of the 2024 presidential election and on january 20, tune in for live, all-day coverage of the presidential inauguration donald

trump take the oath of office, becoming the 47th president of the united states. stay with c-span threat january for comprehensive live, unfiltered coverage of the 119th congress and the presidential inauguration. c-span, democracy unfiltered, created by cable. c-spanshop.org is c-span's online store. browse our latest collection of products, apparel, books, home decor and accessories. there's something for every c-span fan. every purchase of support our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime at c-spanshop.org. washington journal continues. host: welcome back to washington journal where we are kicking off the annual holiday authors week series. and we are starting off with the

founder of the literary platform well-read black girl who is joining us to discuss her book "gather me: a memoir in praise of the book that saved the." welcome to washington journal. guest: thank you. host: talk about well read black girl, what started as an online community that has since taken on many different forms. what is this community and how did the idea for it come about? guest: it was a book club, podcast and now a nonprofit with books written by black women to support and uplift them, especially when they were in their debut. make sure there were enough diapers voices. very small but it has grown into a movement where people feel seen and appreciated for their

literary works. host: and how big is this community now? guest: my goodness, now we have over 400,000 followers on instagram, tons of listeners of the podcast and the annual festival each year where people come from all around the country to support the work of black women. host: speaking of black women authors, you have a book yourself. your latest book is a memoir titled "gather me" and it is part of the quote from toni morrison's "beloved." what does this particular quote mean to you? guest: when i think about it i get emotional because it has brought me such a ration throughout my life. the idea of gathering people, gathering yourself to make you feel seen and for them to get a community when we are talking about books. they are more than just books, they are spaces for people to see each other, they are reflections, inspirations in a lot of ways. this idea gathering myself,

these books save me when i had challenging moments, i wasn't able to find my own direction. i could find my footing again. very important for me to pay homage to authors like toni morrison, maya angelou. all of these writers who became reflections of myself. host: and the specific quote, she's a friend of mine, she gathers me. the pieces i am, she gathered them and gave them back to me in all the right order. guest: and that is how books feel to you. absolutely. something that brings me great joy and love and understanding. almost like a light post in a lot of ways. host: because you write about having something of a challenging childhood when your immigrant parents from nigeria divorced and your father returned to nigeria, your mother remarried somebody that you couldn't quite relate to. how did books care for you in

those difficult times? guest: that is the beauty of the book. i would be able to just look at these books and read them and find a sense of hope. and that is the power of literature. you can see yourself and maybe you don't have a model to follow directly where you are depressed or alone, a book can really offer you support. likely i had great teachers to offer me support as well. this book is really a tribute to all the people who help find myself when i was having challenging moments. host: you have an excerpt from your vocal were you mentioned that in school, many of the folks that you thought were -- can you read a lbit of that for u guest: it seems to me like a kind of contrast, here are all the important things for you to learinrder to pass the test

and cultivate a healthy sense of self. the bk from a reading list told me that some stories were more important than others. these narratives were occasional but reunding yes. everything els a yearn for, an array of lack action, poetry, essays and memrsthat was literally absent from my coursework t i felt a kind of rebellion when i failed to see the stories that reflected black history. so yes, maya ael and dougl . but beyo tt, to kill 1984, erstemingway, liu ochsner, james joyce. and, i rolled my eyes, the ever present catcher in the ride. host: how would you compare your experience than with what students are encountering in school today? guest: my purview was very limited. we read maya angelou and we have

the opportunity to read frederick douglass, but that was about it. a lot of the narratives worked reflective of the student body, weren't reflective of my own experience. and i feel that happening today. there are some of the things being censored and it isn't really reflecting the diversity of our country and the beauty of literature. there is an array of voices that need to be heard. we are able to see beautiful reflections, and i think that is so integral for people to see that, especially students. they understanding of the world, we need more voices to reflect that. i challenge you to see what is ha libraries right now. host: you mention some of the pushback's against various titles, but this is also coming from the incoming administration. there's a story in the associated press here about trump policies saying trump wants to end wokeness in

education and has about that romani, saying that his vision for education revolves around a single goal, to rid american schools of perceived wokeness and left-wing indoctrination. the president elect to forbid classroom lessons on gender identity and structural racism. he wants to abolish diversity inclusion offices, he wants to keep transgender athletes out of girls sports and throughout his campaign, the republicans a school as a political battleground to be won back from the left. now that he's won the white house he plans these federal money as leverage to advances vision of the nation. what does that mean, do you think, for the types of books that students are going to be encountering in classroom? guest: this idea of wokeness. the ability to build wonder,

curiosity and students. when you silenced those voices you are doing a disservice. we need folks to feel proud of who they are, because they had a wonderful english teacher and folks that allowed me to see myself in the books, i was able to become the person i am today. that idea of taking books out of schools is so ridiculous to me because we need those stories. it is what makes us a beautiful country, it is what makes the educational system so needed. we need to go forward with this. i just get frustrated inking about the idea because it is what changes people's identities, their agency. when you are able to read a book you are able to become more of yourself. it is so necessary to have those voices. i hope that we are able to fight that and prevent banning books and censorship because we need books.

host: in it just admit we will be taking your questions. our number for republicans, (202) 748-8001. free democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. some students may be encountering a situation similar to what you described in the excerpt where the books that they are encountering in the classroom might not resonate deeply for them. how did you teach yourself to expose yourself to more black literature in particular on your own? guest: for me it was really about following my curiosity i would just kind of follow what i was looking for at the time. median able to just take a risk when it came to the things that i read, the things i was interested in, it exposed me to somebody incredible narratives i was lucky enough to go to an

incredible university, howard university and that also allowed me to research black history. and i think young people need to have that curiosity, especially when there are adults in our lives that might tell us know, you not supposed to do that. the idea is building a sense of agency that you need to make your own choices, ashley when it comes to literature because it is out there. you can't hide from the world. host: i'd like you to read another excerpt from your book where you write about your first asked arians reading zora neale hurston's "their eyes are watching god" and how difficult that was. guest: it was a leap for me, reading-wise. a decidedly adult book that oprah had recommended on her show that dealt with the kinof

difficult language that forced me to slow down in small bites. there was a rig to this book that i hadn't experienced four. was the first time i really ticed the voice of a book and it wasn't an easy voice for me to understand. host: you also say that you often miss read things. what do you say to people who want to read books like hers simply because they say kids may not be experienced enough to properly understand them? guest: being able to have a conversation with young people, to be in dialogue, to encourage, we want those things. whenever they are reading, that allows it to be reinforced, that context and nuance to whenever they are learning about. it is not simply about reading a book and taking it at face value. it is having conversations and building dialogue the chapter. host: you also describe your experience in reading jane

baldwin and what his words meant to you -- james baldwin when you were trying to understand the beating of rodney king, george floyd's death. guest: i have two younger siblings and i was just so protective of them. reading james baldwin allowed me to give context to their experience, understand what they were going through as young men, understand the level of racism that we encounter in this country as nonblack boys. he just gave me a grounding to give them enough nurturing and support that they could feel proud of who they were and very confident as young black boys as well. host: if you wanted to read these books that you found through your own research, you found that some of the books in your own curriculum were taught differently, even when you did get them.

can you lay that out for me? guest: everyone has a different understanding of literature. the way one teacher taught shakespeare or even james joyce, they are all different but it was the questions in the conversations that all of that allowed me to have a better understanding of them, and i'd like to encourage young people to do the close reading, to region between the lines, to ask questions. no question is off bounds. go further into the text and fact-check and build your sense of critical analysis. it was building my own self- analysis and being able to communicate with other people about the work. host: that's code-2 your calls now. let's hear from tom in fort myers florida about the line from democrats. caller: happy holidays to you. enjoy the conversation. so you just mentioned "their

eyes were watching god," that was the best thing i've done all year was read that book. i didn't know that oprah recommended it. i actually read it because it was one of c-span's in that series the 10 most important books. i'm saying that wrong, but you did that series with the library of congress. so my brother gave me a compilation of a lot of her works, and i read the mall and they are just fantastic. i live in florida, so for me to say that, i'm usually drawn more toward nonfiction, but again, it has sort of a history to it. that was appealing to me. i just thought that was fantastic. a florida history course, a copy

to read that book and i would say it was probably the best thing i did all year. and another one of hers, fantastic anyway, enjoying the conversation, hope you all have a great holiday. host: for people who want familiar, how would you describe is already hurston and her works? guest: she is just an effervescent, beautiful, vivacious writer. her words come alive on the page and you are old into the story. anyone encountering her work for the first time, the way that she writes, it is lyrical, it is full of beautiful visuals, and i think that everyone should be her work. his life to take -- life-changing. host: mary from wisconsin, line for republicans. caller: caller: public school had a book by mayer angelou, " i

the caged bird sings" and my daughter started singing it and she was like wow, i'm not reading this book, i don't care what grade i get. because of the sexual abuse. she was traumatized by even seeing that in the written word. she didn't tell me about it until two years later. so i had to start talking to her about stuff that while these books were being banned and she said i didn't care what i got for this grade, it traumatized a child. to have to see that. it is just awful. so i don't know why anyone would suggest a book by maya angelou that has sexual abuse in it. guest: it's a great opportunity to connect with your daughter and talk to them further about the challenges, that sexual abuse is a real thing that many people encounter.

and i think a lot of those books need to be age-appropriate worse. so depending on how old your daughter was, it is something that requires explanation and context to the story. so hopefully it is something that brought you and your daughter closer together to ask more the reason it was challenging for her. i do understand that not everyone is able to encounter the work at a certain age. it is a very difficult topic of course. host: this is one of the things that is product quite often. some of the material dealing with sexual topics or abuse or even different types of relationships are not age-appropriate or different kinds of children. how do you navigate that conversation while still exposing kids to a variety of folks you are saying are so important? guest: forgive me if i'm repeating myself, but adding the conversation, the contact info

nuance to the stories. it's not simply having the students read it alone, it is allowing them to be in conversation and have a fuller understanding of what these stories mean and the value of them. there's going to be hard topics, but it builds their self-esteem, their confidence, their understanding of the world. the world is a difficult place. sexual abuse does exist, racism exists. you can't shield young people from the reality of the world books can be a great tool to enter these conversations in a safe space where there are some guardrails, some boundaries. if they do have curiosity they can come to trusted adult and work through that . host: speaking of these texts guiding the conversations around some really challenging topics, i want to go back to that example of you and your brother, around james baldwin.

i believe we have an excerpt of more from your book related to that experience. guest: my brothers lives would indeed be shape a certain way cause they were black and for no other reason. and my own life had y been affected by the affectation that black women should and move -- should and could move e earth to help the black men their lives because we we e only ones who cared enough to do so. en read those words, i saw a dning row can face and i suddenly understood the anxiety the incident had triggered in me. host: can you talk about have a conversation with your brothers and in your own experience, your family was shape from kind of parsing what was a pretty traumatic experience in what you are reading? guest: with my siblings and my family, again i'm a first generation american and are family has encountered numerous challenges.

but because we had books and each other, we were able to communicate these ideas in a way that this isn't the only thing that defines us. we can work through these things. we can have a safe space and find a sense of solace. they offered me great comfort and they provided a model for me and my siblings to see that how we can have joy and hope despite the challenges of racism and other things that we encounter. it is not something something that just happens. you have to really work and cultivate a sense of curiosity and love for yourself and books help you do that, stories and narratives. so whether you are reading a book or you are talking to your family one on one, the stories that we tell our some important

and they help us build our identity, our confidence, and we can't hide that from students or from each other. we need to tell the stories in order to have a better understanding of one another. host: john is a new jersey on the line for democrats, go ahead. caller: i can understand. one time when i was 11 or 12 years old, my teacher read to us the autobiography of malcolm x and they saw some things in a special ed classroom and later on i had to stay home for over a year because of school problems i had in my school system. but va i had -- but the aid i had, also she read me, the

longest day. when i went to school, i read a lot of oaks on vietnam. and one of the things i got from ernest hemingway and also from langston hughes, in my high school i read all four. one of the finest books you ever want to read, it was funny. and i also got into --, i read

him a little bit. guest: this is so encouraging. it sounds like books really guiding you through what was a challenging time in your life. it is beautiful to witness the joy that people, the memories you have. i can remember the words i -- the books i read, a beautiful story. host: joe is in rhode island on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: books are a very big part of my life. i have a whole library in my house. when i was 15, it really affected me even though i was in

brooklyn, that took place in chicago, so it was all stuff i could relate to. i got done high school and in 10th grade we had an english teacher was great. she had us actually read, instead of just reading the words, she had us try to understand what we were reading and she dissected among other things, moby dick. line by line. it was an allegory. and we went through mcbeth also. what she did was she had a history of how words came into being in the latin and greek basis for a lot of our words.

etymology, you'd call it. she was such a terrific teacher. later on she became a college professor. you can learn a lot with teachers like that. i think books unfortunately are being pushed aside by digital paper. my daughter is a college professor. she really enjoyed being in a house with a lot of books and my granddaughters, my three granddaughters are the same way. guest: you make an interesting point i'd love to hear you talk about which is the shift from reading hard physical books to digital books to audiobooks. do you think it matters? guest: i am a huge fan of audiobooks.

i think that when you are listening, when you are reading, it is important to think about accessibility, so that is another way to make books accessible. incredible things like the public library. the thing is, when we think about technology, there are so many ways for young people who are adults to engage with literature, but we need to open that up and allow people to see that there are some great ways to engage with work. if you are reading, your meeting, i think that is the most important part of it. so yes, maybe there are other apps or things that distract from reading, but there are other tools that allow people to engage with it. they are all valid. host: we have a question over text. what are t crent reading selections for the well read blacker a book cluan what are the top three books that you would recommend today? guest: i'll go with the second

question first the top three books that would recommend, "i know why the caged bird sings" absolutely. i would also recommend a new book called " we're alone" which is a collection of essays that explores a variety of different topics for him, and then the last book i would say is toni morrison's "jazz," the history of america, the great migration, and her writing is so poetic. those are three legendary writers that i feel everyone should encounter. in terms of the book club currently, we are doing our best to support new works, more contemporary writers, their first book coming out in the world. most recently we were reading a book by -- not a debut writer, but we wanted to support her when her new book came out, and

right now we are getting ready for the new year, so we are looking at books of the top of 2025. host: and do your selections skewed toward fiction, nonfiction? guest: we try to do it makes of everything. a little romance, nonfiction, contemporary literature. we try to do a little bit of everything. host: rick is in youngstown, ohio on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning, ladies. the reason i'm calling is i was distracted by the female in wisconsin. thank god she had an opportunity to read a book and the opportunity to say she's not going to read it. host: he is referring to our previous caller who mentioned that her daughter was quite disturbed i what you read. go ahead.

caller: you have no idea how many sexual victims there are across america. in grade school, high school, college. and it's a problem that has to be addressed. you don't put it back in the corner and throw the book away. so unfortunately that girl was upset by reading it, and i understand that. but how many females in america have read that book and then finally talked to somebody about being sexually abused? think about that, ok? the reason i called and was to ask you two rhetorical questions. number one, du think that donald trump is severely mentally ill? number 2 -- well, let's go back to number one. i personally think so. i've disliked him for 38 years and the things, the current nominees he has -- host: i do want to keep the

topic focused on the books here, but i understand, do you mean in terms of his perspective on but banning for something else? caller: let's go to book bans. it's 2024, are you not surprised at how many books are being banned and burned and removed from libraries? that should be a real concern for you. that's all i've got for today. guest: absolutely, i'm incredibly concerned about what is happening with banning books and the nature of censorship in schools. i'm doing my best to support individuals for advocating for more diverse books and just diversity in schools. allowing people to really exercise their first amendment rights, which is so necessary for anyone learning in our public schools today.

they need to learn how to advocate for themselves, continue to learn about media literacy, how to continue to give context. it is so essential and it is encouraging to hear the conversations we are having the morning to see that everyone has a very strong viewpoint on how we should be conducting these things and how we should prevent the standing of books because that does nothing but silence voices and we don't want young people to be silenced. we want them to grow and have a voice. host: frank is in selma, alabama and is on the line for independents. caller: good morning on this cold morning here. i love books and i've read a couple of books by maya angelou. i read books that was published in 1919.

i have read books by carter wilson. i've read "raisin in the sun." they really helped me learn a lot from those books. host: can you say little bit more about how those books have helped you. at what points in your life today really matter? -- did they really matter? caller: back in the 1950's when i started elementary school, i didn't read that much. and then as i went in the marine corps and started really opening my eyes up to things, i started

reading a whole lot. and they helped and i just had to get up and call today. there are some books i've read that go deep into my soul. i'm so glad you all really are letting me get into this conversation. you all have a beautiful holiday and many more days. thank you for taking my calls. guest: it is so heartwarming to hear how books impact everyone and those good memories can last forever. they can change your life and your perspective on the world. tim castleman on x asks have you ever read any of his works? guest: i've not, unfortunately

but i would love to. i will add that to my reading list. host: high point, north carolina, line for independents. caller: good morning, thank you very much for taking my call. good morning. just want to know if she is familiar with clogged brown's book man challenged upon this land. guest: yes, i am. caller: great. that's a book that inspired me many years ago. autobiographies are the books i like because they give me a personal insight to somebody's mistakes and failures or successes. host: for folk so unfamiliar, can you give us a little insight into this book and why you chose it? caller: it's a guy that overcame

a lot in his life. that is what we do with life, we have ups and downs that we can overcome them. you look at trump, trump is a guy that has had a lot of ups and downs. think about a book about trump and all he has been able to overcome with forgiveness or whatever. so thank you for taking my call. i think it is down these main streets. in these books, if you can't relate to them, you might want to ban them. they are all people who have real experiences. so thank you very much. guest: all of these books, as you said, everyone has a story. and it is important for us to allow people to have access to those stories.

to be in conversation and to build out curiosity and give context to the story and the history. it is so important that history guides us throughout these conversations and motivates so many things, especially with young people trying to figure out their way in the world. there's always stories and memoirs that we have for future generations. 0 host: and host: of history, meone texted us this question. will you please discuss zora neale hurston's skepticism toward school desegregation. guest: unfortunately i don't have a citation right in front of me and i don't want to misquote, but that was one of the incredible things that i really appreciate about zora neale hurston. she was radical during her time period and had some really

robust ideas on desegregation and how african-americans should present themselves in the world. and there definitely was disagreement between certain things and ideas but again, it was welcome. this idea for her to say perhaps this isn't what life people should do during this period. she writes widely about these ideas the geisha and her experience attending howard university and all these different schools. she had some really strong ideas but i don't have a citation to quote from right here. host: let's now hear from otis in detroit, michigan on the line for democrats. caller: excuse me, hello. yes, i haven't called in a great while, but i've been listening.

i come from a neighborhood that has been majority white since the creation of the city of detroit. this neighborhood south of detroit, in the southwest. and i went to school where there were very few blacks. they tried to change the name to africa town because world war ii veterans my ex-wife, my best friend today still, -- was back during the black exploitation. donald gone wrote these books about the streets, the drugs, the murder, and that is how a

lot of us, especially young men started to read. in high school in the 60's, and there were two white teachers in my life. one in the fourth grade, multiethnic, majority white but was a blue-collar community. and one in high school where i had been kicked out of. three high schools, was finally allowed back in the southwest. and i will never forget her, she told me in history class my biggest problem was i didn't

have anything to identify as a black male in the books. and she turned me on when alex haley was writing "roots." going into reader's digest because she had a contract with them, and he was putting them on albums and putting them in the library. she brought me in and she had me listen to it. i ask is there another one? she said he hadn't put one out yet, and i was going back to her class to get that next album. host: i do want to give a chance to respond because were also

talking about finding literature where he can find himself. guest: absolutely. that one unforgettable teacher that introduces you to a book that allows you to be yourself. it is essential for all people, especially young black boys to see themselves identified in the stories where they can relate, they can grow, they can continue to ask questions. and i was so adamant about having those stories for my siblings. and i did the same thing. i was constantly looking for myself in literature so i can rebuild my self-confidence. >> and the ian interesting comment that we received from mary in boston who recommends -- and ys wish i read books like this when i was young. i would've had the empathy i had

after the diary of anne frank in high school. guest: i'm very fond of this sort of fiction and the books you mentioned, i'm also familiar with that. she's a phenomenal writer. host: can you talk a little bit about that book. guest: it takes place during slavery and the woman is finding herself in -- i can't recall the exact spot. it is historical. this idea of again, going to history to tell beautiful narrative, to create this idea of identities of one people during that time. there's just so much when you are able to cite history. host: should teddy, new york, light for democrats. caller: good morning. i just had a quick comment.

i appreciate your program so much and i just want to share a quick story. my daughter, when she was in 12th grade had an amazing english teacher who assigned the novel "beloved." she was so sensitive and she contacted all the parents and let us know that there's difficult material in the book and invited us to be part of a book club with their children, which she did after school and not only discussed the book with the kids and parents, but provided snacks and time to talk. and it was life-changing. i get emotional thinking about what a beautiful experience that was, i'm going to hang up and listen on the tv because my phone is running out and i can't find the plug, but thank you so much. guest: and so happy to hear you had that experience with your daughter because those are the

things that make a world of difference. teachers who are considerate and kind and open the door for parents and children to connect with one another and have these memorable experiences. for people to continue into the world and have those conversations. for teachers to come together with parents and have dialogue. host: brooklyn, connecticut, line for independents. caller: i'm just calling because it was funny, i normally don't call, but guess what, moby dick. we read moby dick five times.

it's amazing how much my children learn how to's eek and learn, the vocabulary of the english language. something about reading that and helping a child. i mean, i did know about this, being african-american, they expect you to read more african-american books and things like that. i think that if we go back to the basics to learn the english language better, i just wanted to know if you thought about the english language and how would would help. the last thing is a question, do you think we ship a classical

education back into the school system? i think they are unaware of how it works. thank you all. guest: is excellent to hear your experience reading moby dick with your children, absolutely wonderful. i feel like classical education should be a priority in schools. it teaches students how to communicate with one another and think about these ideas and how they impact the whole world. we are not in a silo. one of my favorite books right now is the iliad which is a translation, and i think all of his classics talk about the experiences i had reading william shakespeare and little women and all these books that are out of the literary canon and i think they stand their ground in this beautiful way when it comes to literature as well as moby dick.

the idea to continue to expand on that, new voices, to just grow what adults and young people can encounter in the world. open it up even further. host: margaret is on the line for republicans. caller: before asked my question, i have two other authors to recommend. if you have not read thomas's assault, and that would be robert woodson and i think he is still alive. and then also, walter williams. no one should read 1619 without getting robert woodson's edited book. but my question is when you sent about being a first generation immigrant, i looked it up and i'm curious what your experience is with the difference in culture between what we might

call african-americans that are from nigeria and from barbados and jamaica and so forth from our heritage african-americans here, foundational, i think, is the where they are using now. i know that oprah gave up on her charity here in america and went to africa to put her school because we need to get rid of racism, how do we do it? and a lot of our affirmative action programs went the wrong way. do you notice the difference in culture between foundational americans, some of them, and people from other countries like yourself? guest: i'm first-generation, both my parents immigrated from nigeria but me and my siblings were born in the u.s. one thing that is really important to note is the black diaspora, the idea that blackness is global throughout

the world. so a lot of the ideas that are espoused here in the u.s. are also happening in the caribbean, and nigeria. this idea of identity is bad and as a young person growing up, i went to howard university, and it was grounded into us the idea that what we are learning in the u.s. is not too far different from what is happening overseas. and i really focus on that, the idea of identity allows me to pick -- it contains multitudes. being of african dissent allows me to experience and appreciate it even more and being of african descent allows me to

have a greater appreciation for black american history, for the civil rights movement, all these things are connected and interconnected and that is the way i decide to approach it and have a great appreciation for black movement and the movement across the world. it doesn't simply stop in one place, it is global. host: can you talk to me about some of the differences in the literature that you can bring in from those two experiences. because you have many black authors talking about the legacy of slavery and how that is showing up in a lot of fiction and nonfiction. a lot of recent immigrants might refer to the legacy of colonialism. guest: they converge, they come together in many ways. which really outlines the

different ways racism and slavery have impacted every piece of american society. authors like clint smith, one of my favorite writers. places like charlottesville, what that encounter is a black american, what that encounter means to history. being in that space with formerly enslaved people. so all these stories are connected. they are not in silos, they are all connected together. host: teresa is in washington on the line for democrats, good morning. caller: good morning. i love listening to this. i just want to mention when i was a kid, i mother used to read to us all the time. i live my life in the library.

i think also it's very important that young people, young children read the classics. i discovered an area in our library was nothing but black history, it was fantastic the classics are very important. books by mark twain, charles dickens. helping you to understand life beyond racism. one other thing i want to say, books a very important, but today since so many young people are visually stimulated, i think looking at documentaries regarding history and the world is very important. and by the way, "things fall apart," those are the things

that i wanted to talk about. the emphasis is very important. one other thing quickly. i've been working with understanding how fourth-graders and eighth-graders, assessing how they read and react, and i tell you, if kids can't read before the third grade and understanding what they read, it is very difficult for them to analyze what they read. thank you. guest: i absolutely read a lot of classics going up, a lot of the books that you mentioned. walt whitman and ernest hemingway, ralph emerson. so many things that shaped my

understanding. the key pieces that you mentioned our analysis, being able to not only read the works, but have a further understanding and have concepts of how it all plays out in history, really expand your horizons. in the classics are so vital. i was very fortunate to read somebody incredible books for a variety of authors throughout my time. host: hanna is in north carolina on the line for democrats, good morning. caller: good morning, it is so nice to hear you talk about my favorite subject, and i have a story to tell, i'll make it short. i grew up in north carolina, my first introduction, required to

read the classics. but we had young teachers, and so they bought their own books, poems to us and presented them to us. we were required to recite them, but later on i found that my favorite author, and i think he should be at the top, is for soren neale hurston. and i thought that what she did was she presented herself not as a feminist, but as a womanist.

i identified strong black women, and this was in her book, i noticed how she sat around with men and she talked. i didn't know anything about her actions in the north, but the reason that they didn't understand that zora neale hurston came from a community of black people who had their own had their own schools. -- they had their own identities. she came north and she interacted. she made sure that she was able to write her story. and her story was one that i could identify with.

one other thing was i have a younger sister who is years younger than i am. host: we are just about out of time for this segment. guest: it was so wonderful to hear your love of zora neale hurston. it shows how timeless her work is. so many people mention her because of the power of her words. i also want to shout out langston hughes. his work, the poem you mentioned, mother to son, is what opens up my book. so much of my writing is a dedication to my son and providing him a map of sorts when it comes to literature and legacy and allowing him to understand black history. i feel like every one of the callers echoed the importance of literature and the importance of showing up for these

conversations to really understand the power of words and telling your story. it is so incredible to hear all the beautiful, beloved memories of teachers and teachers over time that have influenced readers. host: thank you so much, glory edim. the founder of the literary platform "well read black girl." this is the first of days of conversations we will be having with some of americas top writers across the political spectrum. we will talk about a variety of publicy and political topi stay tuned to washington journal all week for that, starting at 8:00 a.m. eastern, live each day. when we come back, we are going to take more of your phone calls on any public affairs topic you would like to talk about. those phone numbers are on your screen. it will be open forum and you

can start dialing in. we will be back in a few moments. ♪ >> since its founding in 1992, the innocence project has been responsible for getting hundreds of wrongfully convicted people in the united states out of prison. tonight, our q and a, attorney and innocence project executive director christine joins us to talk about the history of the organization and some of the clients they have successfully represented over the years, including the two men convicted of killing malcolm x in 1965. >> another gentleman took the witness stand and said he was the person who was the shooter and he committed the crime with two other people he refused to name. the jury rejected that

information. what we know is that the law enforcement actually had evidence that corroborated his statement. " it his assertion that he was the shooter and ese other two people, our clients, had not committed the crime. that information was withheld. >> you can listen to all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. >> ahead of the presidential inauguration on january 20, american history tv on c-span two presents a four week series. historic inaugural speeches. each weekend, listen to inaugural speeches given by presidents when they were sworn in, from franklin roosevelt to barack obama. on saturday, we will feature president roosevelt.

>> the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. >> president harry truman. >> i believe that those countries with no opponents will abandon their delusions. >> and president dwight eisenhower. >> we sense that all of our faculties that forces of good and evil are masked and armed and opposed as rarely before in our history. >> watch presidential inauguration speech is saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span two. >> are you a nonfiction book lover, looking for a new podcast? this holiday season, on q and a, you will listen to interesting interviews with people and authors writing books on history and subjects that matter. most of the view on book --

afterwards, bringing together best-selling nonfiction authors for wide reaching, hour-long conversations. we talk about the business of books with nonfiction authors. find all of our podcasts by downloading the free c-span now app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back. we are in open forum, ready to hear your comments about political affairs and news of the day. our number for republicans is (202) 748-8001. for democrats, (202) 748-8000. and for independents, (202) 748-8002. as a reminder, you can text us as well at (202) 748-8003. now, also, before we get to your calls, i wanto remind folks that later on today, president elect donald trump give keynote

remarks in phoenix, arizona at a turning point usa and turning point action even. that will be live at 12:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app and online at c-span.org. and before we get to your call, let's listen to a little bit more from president elect trump at his news conference last week on the senate's response, so far, to his cabinet picks. >> senators who oppose year cabinet nominees, should they be fired? >> if they are unreasonable. i will give you an answer that you will be shocked to hear. if they are unreasonable, if they are opposing somebody for political reasons or stupid reasons, i would say it has nothing to do with me, i would say it publicly would be primary. if they disagree with something

or some buddy, i could see that happening. i think we have great people. i think we have a great whoop of people. so many have unbelievably been well received. -- has been making great strides. he went to princeton. the first day i met him, all he wanted to talk about was military. he's just a military guy. i think he's a natural. it's my idea. he was going big places in fox. a lot of money. and he didn't even hesitate when i said do you want to do this. he said absolutely. i said you know, if it doesn't work out, you will never have the opportunity you have right now in terms of the world of entertainment or business or whatever you want to call it,

you will never have that opportunity again. in fact, it could be the opposite because it is nasty out there. he said i don't care, i have to do it for my country. he gave up a tremendous amount. it would be a tragedy. but that's what he loves. he loves the military. i never talked to him about anything else. i talked to him about the military. he would come to see me about a soldier who was unfairly treated and asked could i help. that's the only thing i virtually ever talked to him about. i've seen him many times, i don't think i have had a subject of anything other than military with him. that's where his love is. he didn't say i'd like to think about it or talk to my family. he said not even a contest. he was going through the roof. he was doing great. they had the number one show on saturday and sunday with will and rachel. that was great chemistry. and it just didn't work -- and if this didn't work out for him, it would actually be sort of

tragic. host: president elect trump discussing his choice to lead the department of defense. there was some news as reported on nbc news and elsewhere, two maybe pilots -- part of a carrier strike group mistakenly fired on the jets, u.s. central command said in a statement. two navy pilots were safely ejected over the red sea after the fa 18 fighter jet they were in was shot down by what appeared to be friendly fire at u.s. central. command said the fa 18 was flying off of the uss harry s truman when it was downed. one of the pilots may have sustained minor injuries during the ejection.

part of the uss harry asked truman carrier strike group in the region "mistakenly fired on and hit the f-18. a full investigation is underway." officials did not release the fighters exact mission. the accident happened sunday morning in the region between africa and the middle east. a focus of u.s. military assets assembled to protect u.s. personnel, coalition partners and global shipping interests. let's get to your calls in open forum, starting with henry in mississippi on our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. my name is henry joiner. i would like to thank god for blessing us all to be able to be up this morning and still be here. i have two questions. first question. why is it that out of all of history, that we have not

learned that wars, wars don't solve anything. the only people that seriously get her going to war is the innocent. now if these countries, president, king, however, have a problem with what's going on with each other, why not have them two people fight. just them two people. the rest of us don't know each other and have never spoken to each other. yet we go to different countries to kill people that we don't know nothing about. they've never done anything or said anything wrong or done anything wrong to us. also, if we do not go and fight these people, we can be locked

up, just because we don't want to go to another country and kill someone that's never done anything to us. i'd like to know the answer to that question, now. my second question. the second question is why do we put people to death with the death penalty for killing someone? ain't we doing the same thing when we kill them? murder is murder. host: all right. let's go to rudy in california on the line for democrats. morning, rudy. caller: my last thoughts for the year. i believe in karma. i will not be supporting donald in any form or fashion. to my error-palestinian friends who i have supported for decades

-- arab-palestinian friends who i have supported for decades, that has ended. and finally, the people who supported donald under the guise of inflation and the economy, the luck collecting your 30 pieces of silver. thank you, can really. have a blessed holiday. host: rudy mentioned the people who voted for trump because of his economic policies. thursday during the debate on the continuing resolution, house minority leader hakeem jeffries attacked trump and the gop's economic agenda for a let's listen to some of those comments. >> and so, we see a very clear pattern. the facts speak for themselves. democrats are the party of getting things done and fiscal responsibility. republicans are the party of massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well off and the well-connected.

which brings us to this very moment. because this bill is designed to set up the gop tax dam 2.0. to stick the american people with a bill so you can continue to cut taxes for wealthy donors and well-connected corporations and jam working class americans. that's what this bill today, fundamentally, is all about. that's why republicans are suspending the debt ceiling, for two years. a so-called party of fiscal responsibility. in addition to these massive tax cuts, we know how you want to pay for it. when he republicans have said this in the public domain. that we want to end social security as we know it. end medicare as we know it. in the medicaid as we know it.

into -- end nutritional -- as we know and not support veterans. you are trying to jam working class americans again. as you have repeatedly done, over and over and over again. those are the facts. host: some of the news we are following this morning, from politico, trump threatened to retake the panama canal. the u.s. seated control of the canal to panama in -- ceded control of the canal to panama in 1999. but president trump on saturday that the u.s. would resume control of the panama canal if it felt panama was not honoring the terms of the 1977 treaty, regarding the water wave's legal

status. in two lengthy posts, trump accused panama of charging u.s. vessels exorbitant rates to pass through the critical waterway. he also claimed the treaty is enabling panama to take control of the canal in the first place and also allowed the u.s. to take it back. i will read it here. if the principal, both moral and legal of this magnanimous gesture are not followed, we will demand the panama canal be returned to us in full and without question, trump wrote. it is unclear what spurred trump's threat about the canal. a hong kong based company administered the ports on each end of the canal. no chinese commercial or government entity actually has any direct role in managing the

flow of vessels through the critical waterway. john in virginia is on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: a couple of quick points. if next time you have a lawyer on your show, not you but any host such as liz we'll i believe was on a week or two ago, the next time you have a lawyer on, can you have them explain in layman's terms what the 32 misdemeanors are -- felonies are that donald trump is accused of? can they explain what they actually are? and maybe say what is the minimum sentence and what is the maximum sentence and how many people have been convicted of any of these felonies? if anything, we are going to hear about them for the next four years from every liberal that calls in. if anybody wants to watch on youtube, it was very interesting

about the january 6. that's all i have. merry christmas. thank you. host: ron is in philadelphia on the line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for the wonderful moderating you are doing this morning. i am here, no matter your political stripes, we all go through sometimes the trauma of loss. i recommend a book and i know we are in the fire segment, tragic victory by diane davis. great reading, about 100 pages. it shows a path that we all must go through when we lose someone close to us or when we have struggles with mental illness or the things that change in front of our faces. i would recommend that book. it's called tragic victory. it's on amazon. it is well read and people who

have read it seemed to have gotten another vision of how to deal with loss. i recommend that book. host: thank you for the recommendation. carolyn is in tyler, texas on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i want to go back to the discussion on being optimistic or pessimistic about the upcoming trump administration. i'm definitely pessimistic about the upcoming trump administration. as a 71-year-old black woman, raised in the jim crow south here, i lived through racial segregation here in east texas. i can remember white only and colored only signs for water

fountains. i remember not being able to sit and eat at a delicatessen downtown. i remember going to the only elementary school designated for black students here in our area. yet, i feel like what is to come for blacks and other people of color with trump as the president, along with the unqualified people he has picked so far, will result in a rolling back of rights and gains like we have ever seen before. in fact, this rolling back of rights and gains has really already started, since the implementation of the project .25 plan. such as the loss of dei programs, diversity, equity and inclusion, that not only

benefits people of color but the disabled. lgbtqia community. women, various people, right to choose, banning books and so much more. i am pessimistic because we are about to have a person at the helm of our country who has been charged with 34 film lease. -- felonies. a person who will likely unravel our economy to an extent that it becomes unrecognizable. thank you for taking my call. host: gar is in georgia on the line for independents. caller: thank you -- kimberly, my bad. host: that's ok. caller: what i would like to talk about, have you ever had

denise spielberg on book tv? she wrote the book thomas jefferson's koran? host: i'm going to check our archives but go ahead in the meantime. caller: she goes into the depth of how thomas jefferson studied the holy koran. he was trying to learn arabic and a lot of what we got in the constitution comes from the koran. another thing, hakeem jeffries, his first name, hakeem, comes from arabic. which means intelligent and wise. and they even say the word america also comes from arabic. which means commander of self. in fact, columbus descended from spain, which was ruled by muslims for over 800 years. i wish people would really understand the history of america and how a lot of what we

have going on comes from islam. the thing about it is we are in the middle east and i can't understand why we are over there. it don't make sense. because you don't have peace with bombs. you don't create peace with bombs. we all know that. thank you very kindly. host: i wasn't able to find any interviews related to that book in our arcades -- archives in a quick search but i did check. let's hear from brenda in fort lee, new jersey, on the line for democrats. morning. caller: good morning. i'm calling in regards of being so disappointed in the president. i can't believe what was going on when he was the president for the last four years. i don't know. i've been a democrat for many years and now i switched over. and i'm giving my vote -- i keep

giving my vote to president trump. i really hope he does a better, better job which i know he will. and hopefully america will turn around and be united and people will learn that he's for us. let's give him a chance. president trump, i wish him all the best. he has my vote, i gave my vote. thanks for listening. host: next up is jesse in shalimar, florida, on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: yes, there are two things i would like to see if someone could help me understand. the first is the issue of the tariffs. trump talks about the tariffs being something that we will get from china but as i understand it, the tariffs are on the goods

and the goods are paid for by the companies. and essentially, that means that the companies will charge the people money for those same goods. to me, that seems like a threat for inflation. and i just don't understand trump's thinking that we can get money from china when it looks like the money is coming from -- the other thing i don't understand, we have a problem getting help to do construction work and things like that. if we deport the people who do that type of work, where are we going to get the labor to do that work? i mean, if you try to get a workman right now, it takes weeks even with the situation that we are in. and to deport people that are working, i understand closing the border.

i'm all for that. and i'm all for let's get this stuff out of war. but i'm worried about the economy. host: so, jesse, to your first point regarding the tariffs, there has been quite a bit of reporting on the potential economic impacts of the tariffs that president trump has proposed. here is one story from the associated press that came out last month. trump's threat to impose tariffs could raise prices for consumers, colliding with the promise for relief. it says if donald trump makes good on his threat, the price increase that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give american families a break from inflation. economists say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, whose and other goods. -- booze.

the president floated the tariffs idea as a way to halt the country's flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the u.s. he posted on troop social, threatening the tariffs on the first day in office could be a negotiating ploy to get the untry to change behavior. jesse, year analysis on who pays for tariffs is matched up by many economists as well. at least that's one of your points. on the border, there has been a few economic analyses of how the potential mass deportations could affect the border as well if you want to go look for those. ok. let's go to philip in jackson, mississippi, on our line for independents. good morning, philip. caller: good morning, young lady. i wanted to call to tell people that there is a really good book called running in my shoes that deals with american and

african-american and almost all native cultures and histories and the founding of this country and the founding of our culture and civilization. being an african-american has a deeper root than often times is displayed or talked about when it comes to any subject related to african-americans. it's mostly things that are related to the economy and how it works in america. it's much deeper and a greater sense of knowledge about the development of the planet and civilizations rather than just talking about current issues in america when it comes to blacks. it goes much, much deeper, thousands and thousands of years. i think it will enlighten those who want to be able to see a better situation of the truth, rather than just the same old

topics and subject matters that are often times talked about. so, in particular, leadership that is often talked about. i think there is one more thing. a male biographical perspective as well. being both related to the history and founding of this country. i think it is a really good read and i recommend people try to get hold of it. host: thank you for the recommendation. steve is in anderson, indiana on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: i have a few things i would like to talk about. i'm excited about trump being back in office. everybody is going to have to come back to the white house and do the work for the people. there will be meetings.

for the last four years, it seems like the whole white house and washington, d.c. has been shut down. nothing has been done. nobody comes to work. everybody needs to get to work and do the business for the people. and this border by biden, the democratic party, i don't know who is actually running this democratic party. trying to sell our steel or they are building the wall. that's kind of ridiculous. but, we have to get this deficit under control. and i think trump can do it. we cannot be putting out these bills with 3000 pages in them.

that is going to end. all of this pork that has been cut out in all of these bills that don't amount to a hill of beans, just wasteful spending. all of the countries, 130 countries out here don't have as much debt as we have. that don't make no sense why we wouldn't want to get money to other countries when we are more in debt than any country combined. we have two quick giving away money to people and start thinking -- to quit giving away money to people and start thinking about the american people. i believe trump and his people will start doing that. get our house back in order. we can't -- almost 37 trillion dollars in debt, almost $1 trillion in interest alone.

that's not getting it for the american people. thank you for listening to me. host: crystal is in rose park pennsylvania -- rose park, pennsylvania. on the line for democrats. caller: the caller was talking about trump wanting to add more debt. that's funny. i wanted to respond to trump and the guy from fox. host: pete hegseth. caller: it would be a tragedy if he didn't get this job. he is a man that tried to sexually assault women. he had an affair on his wife with a woman at work. he is a man that fought a guy and hurt a guy very badly. host: you are referring to

allegations that have been made against pete hegseth. caller: absolutely. not only him, mostly everyone he picked has issues. and we think that that's great, that millionaires care about us little people and they will do such great work for us. and if this weekend was a prelude to his presidency coming up, i am afraid of this person. i am afraid of these people that will change a vote based on a tweet by somebody from south africa. ok. if you want to send somebody back to africa, send musk back to africa. but listen, you guys voted for him. you will get what you get. i'm going to keep on sitting back and listening and laughing at this whole debacle of a man who says he would lower the prices of groceries and now has

changed his mind about that as well. you guys enjoy them. have a good day. thank you. host: crystal referenced some of the allegations against pete hegseth. fox news has a story about the president elect's choice for the secretary of defense with the headline, pete hegseth may relieve sexual assault accuser from confidentiality agreement, setting up a public showdown. this is a bit more on that. pete hegseth, president elect donald trump's defense secretary nominee was snared -- in snared in sexual assault allegations and he plans to release her from the confidentiality agreement that he had her sign according to lindsey graham. grandpa told me that pete hegseth would release her from that agreement, adding i would want to know if anybody nominated for a high-level job in washington legitimately assaulted someone. graham has said he will not take

allegations from an anonymous source into consideration for pete hegseth confirmation, allowing the accuser to come forth publicly might lead to a spectacle similar to the confirmation process of supreme court justice brett kavanaugh, during which christine ford was called to testify about her accusations. tim is in charlotte, north carolina, on her line -- on the line for independents. caller: good morning. how are you? host: good. caller: i want to make some quick comments. i don't want this to go on to double lung. barack obama, $16 trillion in debt. joe biden, incompetent, treasonous. it is outrageous what these democrats talk about. hunter biden, how many crimes did he commit that he got away with? all of this other stuff.

i could go back, the irs, when they weaponized -- the democrats have weaponized all of the stuff way before the republicans ever did. and the thing is they won't prosecute these people. joe biden is the worst. everybody knows that's treason, to let this man sit up here, no he is incompetent. he's the leader of the free world. it's ludicrous. it's outrageous. and these democrats get on here and cry about trump. at least the man is competent. host: tim, can you turn down the volume on your tv just because we are getting an echo. do want you to finish your point. caller: the point is democrats are some of the most criminal -- go back to bill clinton with whitewater. look what hillary clinton did, 30,000 emails. it goes on and on.

republicans have problems but it's unbelievable. it is shocking that these people get on here and talk about republicans. do they not look themselves in the mirror before they throw rocks from their glass houses? it's unbelievable. the shock that brian lam has gone to the left the way it has, that's what you are, watching it for four years, it's an abomination. it really is. that's all i have to say. host: jean in illinois ss'm so tired of hearing about debt from the republicans when 52% of the debt since the bush tax cuts were made law have been the tax cuts. look it up, it's a fact, thank you, c-span. rick is in grand sailing, texas. good morning. caller: thank you. i have two things i wanted to mention this morning. one is one of the best books i

have ever read is called the day america told the truth by patterson and kim. it's out of print. it was 1991 when it came out. you can still get it used on amazon. it is the largest study ever done on american morality and ethics, ever. and it is full of facts, many of them are still valid, even though it's been 30 years ago. and i highly recommend that book for people who are wanting information. the other thing i wanted to mention, i'm thinking of my father who was deceased in 2008, i father was a lieutenant in world war ii in germany, after prosecuting the attorneys. he was under general patton's staff. he was in charge of gathering the evidence against the nazis

for what they did at the concentration camp for the u.s. forces. he did a wonderful job. i just support the jewish people . and what went on is burned into my memory, it's horrible. i won't discuss it here. anyway, thank you for today. you have a great day. god bless you. host: alvin is in denver, colorado, on the line for democrats. good morning, alvin. alvin, can you hear us? caller: good morning, kimberly. wonderful program. pardon me? host: i was saying go ahead and can you turn down the volume on your tv. caller: i have. host: great. caller: i wanted to talk a little bit about panama. host: mhm. caller: are you there? host: yes, we are here. caller: ok.

i had the privilege to serve there in the late 1990's. it's a wonderful country, wonderful people. i was there when we invaded panama. my impressions are that they are a proud people who love democracy. we still -- they still utilize our currency. and i wake up this morning and see this post by the incoming president, threatening panama. i think it's interesting that he is threatening our closest allies in the western hemisphere. the people in panama idolized the united states. there's a tremendous feeling of love and respect for our country. and i just wonder how all of

this -- these threats against mexico, canada, panama, the european union, how will that help the single mom in west philadelphia who either did not vote or voted for trump, thinking about the economy? host: ok. max is in california on our line for independents, good morning. caller: good morning. i hope everything is good. as i make my stadiums, i was hoping if you could, answer some of these questions for me if you could. i have something that has been on my mind for quite some time. where have all of these uninformed americans been for so long? do we not know what kind of person donald trump has been for the past four years? do we not know what has been in the headlines?

it blows my mind that there are so many americans who voted for someone that has so much baggage. it's been bugging me because i have not heard anybody bring this up. if you want to answer, you can. can you tell me, since america was formed, what general part of the population held the most small businesses, farms and large businesses? i will answer it -- i'm not trying to be pejorative, but white america. since america's establishment, the people that have hired the immigrants were the people that owned those businesses, small, private, big, large and farms. for decades, those people have used the others from a different country in a disgusting way, almost slavery.

we all know this. now, those same people are the loudest ones complaining about immigration in america. if we could step back, we could realize who caused this immigration to america. immigrants don't just come here because of the weather. they come here because they are owing to get a job. yes, they will get paid less, a sort of slavery in a way. but they have a job and they can send money home. it was a certain part of the population that used those people to cheat the american system. they didn't hire people to give them a job and make their life better. they hired those people to cheat the american system. so i can imagine why, when biden talked about adding irs agents, that a lot of people complain. and i can imagine why. because a lot of people got very, very wealthy because of using illegal labor that should

not be here. so it blows my mind that these people might get totally left off the hook for what they've done for the past 200 years. they costed, they started it. and now they are the loudest ones in the room, complaining about it and that bugs me so bad. because there are so many uninformed americans who do not realize -- or maybe they do realize that they are ignoring it -- but that is the case. that is my point. i have not heard anyone mention that, there is a certain part of the american part of the population that caused this border problem that everyone is now upset about and no one is holding them accountable. no one is going back and looking at records. no one is going out right now with cameras and taking pictures of work crews and reporting them to the proper agencies to let them know this company is hiring these people. they will get away with it and it blows my mind. that's not supposed to be how america works. that was my point. i haven't heard anybody mention that.

i thought i would put it out there for a lot of other people to think about and realize why this board is the way it is and who benefited from it. and who is going to get to keep what they benefited from it. that's all. thank you for giving me the time for you hope you have a great day. host: beverley is in california on our line for democrats. good morning, beverley. caller: good morning and happy holidays to you. i was calling to say what i don't think a lot of people realize is that president obama, when he left office, he left the incoming president, no matter who it was, a windfall. he had everything in order.

donald trump thought he had hit the super lotto, mega millions, powerball, presidential jackpot. everything was laid out for him. from the economy to the pandemic to covid. everything. and he did his best to run it into the ground. and then along came the biden-harris administration, which i think they should have harped on during the presidential row action. they had to try to clean up that mess. and it was devastating for them. they work hard. they did what they could do to try and get this country back on board. and now, here we come again with

trump. the country would rather choose a 34 count convicted felon then put a woman of integrity into office. that's just the way it is. that's just america for you. god is still on the throne. that's how i look at it. i'm not looking for anyone to fail. i just pray that things go well and that we can withstand what's getting ready to come. host: daniela is in maplewood, new jersey on a line for independents. caller: can you hear me ok? host: yes, very clearly. caller: i agree with so much of what the prior democrat speaker said.

however, i want to be not so disillusioned with americans because donald trump, for one thing, won with propaganda and lies and elon musk's money. even though i am an independent, i am aware of how much there is opinion and not just opinion but fact about how the 2020 for recent election was stolen. there is a documentary called vigilantes inc., which explains with senator warnock and stacey abrams and lawyers from the naacp, shows how many black, asian and latina votes were repressed and stolen. even martin luther king jr.'s 92-year-old relative, they tried to stop her from voting. there is that and several technicians or phd's with computer science, sending a

letter to kamala harris, saying how easy it is to hack dominion voting machines and calling for a hand recount of paper ballots. i don't know why the democrats evan called for a recount of paper ballots. even though my family has been independent for years, since the days of eisenhower, who was the last good, moderate republican, and who did not spend up the national debt by cutting the taxes for billionaires and corporations. when eisenhower was president as a republican, he taxed the rich at a much higher rate. so, i remained independent. but, i see all of the lies happening. the propaganda that a felon is now a convicted --

host: i'm trying to get a little more information, you mentioned an issue with dominion voting systems which, there has not been that i have seen, critical reports of these sorts of voting irregularities. i was just trying to figure out where you heard that information about the problems with the ballots. caller: there is a website called people for fair voting, now i can't remember the name of it. but it's from universities, from fair voting nonprofit organizations, sent a letter to vice pres. harris:, explaining how easy it is to hack dominion voting machines. and footnoting it with science and all sorts of footnotes, asking her to call for a recount of paper ballots. this has been circulating all

over the internet. i wish i had before me the actual name of the organization. but if you google letter or if you look up letter to vice pres. harris, these people are information technologists at major universities and various nonprofits that supports fair voting that have written this letter. they have not exactly said that the dominion machines were hacked. they show how easily they could be hacked. and it is very fishy that all of these -- this is the first time in history that every single swing state voted by a small margin for trump. so, there is a lot of suspicion about it and that is why the societies or information -- these i.t.s or information technologists are calling for a recount of paper ballots. host: i've been searching while

you have been talking and i have not been able to find it. the only thing i have been able to find is a reference to a letter that is a duty to warn letter that went to vice president harris. it seems like there was something circulating on social media that turned out to not be accurate. i did search it to find a reference to that. that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, i just couldn't find it. let's go to charlene in north carolina on the line for republicans. caller: i am so sick of these democrats not understanding why trump got in. because it was the majority. they are the minority. they need to suck it up, stop their whining and shut up. thank you, have a merry christmas and a good day. goodbye. host: jessica is in reno nevada

on the line for democrats. good morning, jessica. -- reno, nevada on the line for demo press. good morning, jessica. caller: i got a request for an exec of order on day one. merry christmas to everyone, everywhere. listen, i really do think that president trump needs to do an executive order on day one, with regards to the irs tax code, to mend it for hoa. the homeowners association fees, to include 100% deduction for owners. and occupants, who might be homestead or whatever. but the point is right now, currently, the irs code allows only if you rent it out or if you have a business in your home, you can have part of your home that you use ho ac for. we are insurance poor in america

right now. every insurance is through the roof or hoa and there are a variety of reasons. all of them are not known to me. some are known to me. the main thing is this. i live in a house that has been paid for. i have lived here for 30 years and can't afford the hoa in my retirement unless i can write it off. i can't afford to live here. host: ron is in johnstown, pennsylvania on the line for independents. good morning. caller: i'm on the line for democrats, i believe i called on that line. 25% of the debt of the united states was incurred by donald trump and his four years in office. that is a fact. there is a few things i wanted to bring up about taxes.

there is a place called -- out of panama, where i think 70,000 companies have replaced their taxes. they wonder why we have so much debt, because of the tax shelters. the other thing i wanted to bring up too was there is a -- going under the hudson river. under trump, he promised mario cuomo and chris christie that he would give financing to that tunnel and he reneged on it. that is the kind of person that you're dealing with as president

of the united states. host: jim in north carolina on the line for republicans. good morning, jim. caller: good morning. host: what's your,? -- your comment? caller: i would like for all of these democrats who call in about a man who has not taken off his -- to look at this with an open mind. if this president who is fixing to go in would say all right, we are going to open up the borders, come on everybody, free health care and free social security, here is your debit card. all you have to do is vote republican. these people would not -- they were not led over here to be put to work, they were led over here to vote and it backfired. wake up. the things the biden administration has done, he

should be put in front of a firing squad for what he's done to this country. i wish the people would wake up. host: we won't have a call for violence on here. noris is in new york on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: i want to start with noah. moses in the 10 commandments, people chose the golden cow. jesus and barabbas, people chose robbers. the people chose trump and he's the criminal. host: ok. benita is in fort worth, texas. good morning. caller: good morning.

how are you doing? host: good. please turn down the volume on your tv and then go ahead. caller: i wanted to explain and say some things in rebuttal to the things i've heard said. first of all, it was not by mandate or landslide that trumpv won. when someone says suck it up, the people wanted him. ok, we are talking about 250 million people who are eligible voters. but only 155 million or so people voted. over 80 something million people did not vote. and that is the problem. and a lot of those people, a majority of them were democrats. so, he did not get but 49% of the vote of the people who did vote. number two, when we are talking about hiring illegals, i think the democrats didn't do a lot to explain and go back and bring up that trump had over a dozen or

so illegal immigrants working at mar-a-lago during his first term. they said he seek permission because he couldn't find anybody to work in mar-a-lago. i guess he should have paid them more. third, when barack and michelle obama used to say when people go low, you go hi. during that particular political time, you could do those things with congress. no, the gentle men who turned around that said biden needs to be -- gentlemen who turned around and said that biden needs to be put in front of a firing squad, those are the people that trump tapped into. the violent people. that's what we have now. they have been brought out of the darkness and into the light by saying that all of the so-called free speech -- host: we are just about out of time for the show today. thank you to everyone who calls in -- called in with their

comments and questions today for the washington journal. later today, president elect donald trump will be giving a keynote remark at an event in phoenix, hosted by turning point usa and turning point action. that will be at 12:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app and online on c-span.org. thanks to everyone and join us for another edition of "washington journal" at 7:00 a.m. eastern. have a good day. ♪