coverage of the 119th congress and presidential inauguration. c-span, democracy unfiltered. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> when connection is needed most, cox is there to help, bringing affordable internet to families in need. whenever and wherever it matters most, we will be there. >> cox supports c-span as i public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. host: good morning. it is wednesday, january 1, 2025. happy new year. many people will start the new

year with new year's resolutions and this morning we want to hear your suggestions for what resolutions lawmakers in washington should have for 2025 when it comes to policy, partisanship or anything else. our phone numbers. for democrats, (202) 748-8000. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. for independence, (202) 748-8002.if you would like to text us , that number is (202) 748-8003. please be sure to include your name and where you are writing in from. if you would like to reach us on social media, that's facebook.com/c-span or on x at @cspanwj. in terms of what donald trump has resolved to do when he takes office later this month, he had an appearance on "meet the press" in december talking about the early legislative agenda he will present to congress. >> you are the first president

since grover cleveland to win nonconsecutive terms. republicans now have control of the house and senate. what do you plan to accomplish in your first 100 days in office? president trump: well, we are going to do something with the border very strong and very powerful. that will be our first signal, our first signal to america that we are not playing games. we have people coming in by the millions, as you know and a lot of them should not be here, most of them should not be here but we have jails being emptied into our country, we have mental institutions from all over the world being emptied into our country so we will be doing that. we will be extending within that period or as soon as we can the trump tax cuts because you know they are coming due and they're very substantial for people. and it would be very, i think it would anger a lot a people frankly if we do not get an extension to that. that's what let us to one of the greatest economies ever and those two things are going to be very vital, very important.

we are going to be focusing on crime in the cities and we will work with democrat governors. most of them are, as you know, if you look at the 25 worst places, they are mostly all democrat-controlled cities and states. and we are going to be working with democrat governors and democrat mayors and i look forward to doing it but we have to do something about crime mostly in our cities and we will be doing a lot of other things. we will be working on nominations. we are still going to be working on some nominations. i think they are going very well. the most part, i think they are going extremely well. it looks like pete is doing very well now. i know people were a little bit concerned. he is a young guy with a tremendous track record actually, went to princeton and went to harvard. he was a good student at both but he loves the military and think people are starting to see it so we will be working on his nomination along with a lot of others. host: the washington post editorial board took a look ahead at what's coming for the united states in 2025 when it

comes to our politics with the headline, "2025 promises to be tumultuous, here's our new year's resolution. in a gloomy age, we should welcome the unknown because the future might be better than the past." the editorial goes on to say the united states is entering a stretch that we assume will be chaotic and tumultuous but we must allow for the possibility that the next phase of history will surprise in that respect, too. that does not require ignoring reality such as the crushing national debt, climate change or president elect donald trump's record. still less does it call for discounting the lessons of history such as the dangers of isolationism and protectionism. what it does demand is acknowledging that not every possible negative outcome will be borne out. gallup, the polling company, has a look at some of the issues that are likely to be top of mind for many americans heading into 2025.

gallup has 20 trends that they identified to wash in 2025. among some of the top ones include presidential approval, with the donald trump's reprise. presidential approval is the ultimate measure of whether america's leader is rallying or wrinkling the public. it will also provide an unparalleled opportunity to gauge whether trump is over performing or underperforming compared with his first term. monitoring independence among come trump averaged a 37% approval rating in his first term and never exceeded 47% be particularly important in gauging his relative success. other issues they highlight include presidential approval, immigration, media trust or mistrust, along with u.s. health care challenges. now, let's get to your calls on what resolutions you believe lawmakers should be making in 2025. we will start with mike in fairbanks, alaska. good morning, mike.

caller: good morning, kimberly and c-span and the world. i have a punch list that is quite extensive. number one, i would like our lawmakers to, you know, stop spending money please. stop spending money, make the dollar strong again. get rid of the printing machines. get rid of the irs. number two, i want all the children found that were lost. it's tragic that they could be being used for who knows what. and that's number two. number three, i want all our land back that was taken by corrupt politicians. that's number three. number four, want all the money back, i want a major clawback on all of the money taken by

insider trading by all of the politicians for the last 50 years. i want an apology from our president trump for promoting, promulgating, and taking the covid death vaxx. that's enough for right now but i love you, kimberly. i love you, america. god bless. god let. i think we will do better. host: edward is it on our line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. what resolution i would like to see is no more spending on freebies for everybody. we have enough freebies. another thing is that they make a resolution that when the media tells a lie and it may benefit your party to do that, but you should be at the point where you will say, no, that's not true, and bring it out, the truth.

i will give you an example. liz cheney, trump told, or she's a warmonger and that she should get a rifle and she should go over there and see what it's like. and yet, it was reported that trump was trying to kill liz cheney. i mean, it's just crazy. i would like to see more honesty. a lot our politicians tell a lie, bald-faced lie, and then they don't even care if they even get caught. they just ignore it. so i would like to see our representatives just be more honest. thank you very much. host: edward mentioned trust in media, which is also on that list of top 20 transfe -- trends gallup identified to wash. in 2024, 34% of americans reported trusting the mass media to report the news fully, accurately unfairly, tying the

record low. 36% indicated they had no trust at all in the mass media. the 2024 election highlighted traditional news media's challenges in staying relevant in the digital age, but can it compete and repair its image at the same time? anita is in michigan on our line for independence. good morning, anita. caller: good morning. happy new year. host: thank you. happy new year. caller: thank you. i wish the media would take china more seriously. it was reported on bbc news and in hnk world that xi was going to take back taiwan this year. i am sure he will take it back through economic incentives and because taiwan has no friends in the world because he controls africa and south america and asia. i wish the republicans, especially, and democrats, understand that china controls africa through their debt.

and i know that the republicans especially, they are not really good on making sure they get rid of debt. i think that's something they are going to have to do dealing with china. i wish we would show more africans coming on and talking about the policies of africa and educate america because a lot of times we do not talk about africa at all. and sometimes we have people on, there's nothing wrong with certain people, but i wish that more africans would come on from senegal, ivory coast, other countries so people would know what exactly is going on in those countries. thank you. host: thank you. anita mentioned relations between china and taiwan. there is a story in nbc news from today, taiwan's president welcomes exchange with china as xi says no one can stop reunification. taiwan hopes to have healthy and

orderly exchanges with china under the principles of reciprocity and dignity, said in his new year's address. if we go down there, in this article, it says that li, who took office in may, has regularly offered talks with china but then rebuffed. china regarded taiwan as its own territory and li as a separatist. li said only taiwan's people could decide their future. brian is in virginia on our line for republicans. good morning, brian. caller: good morning, kimberly. host: what resolutions do you think lawmakers should make in 2025? ok, we will go to john and south weymouth, massachusetts on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i am going to be tough on you

right away. so, i think the resolution for reduction of government spending is key. how would you feel about answering the question regarding your salary? are you fully government-funded or just a private entity -- do some private entities also help facilitate your paycheck? and what do you make a year? host: c-span is not governed -- government funded. . it is funded through the cable industry and through our supporters. caller: so, regulations, we see funding in a -- deregulation, we see funding. host: what do you mean? caller: government fees, do those fees go and turn to find some of the -- find some of the endeavors that you guys are in? host: no. i am going to go to our frequently asked questions page on c-span, which i believe gets

into that. here we go. how is it c-span funded? at c-span, we believed an informed citizens are is dust citizenry. is vital for democracy we provided a unfiltered coverage funded through cable and satellite partners without a dime of government funding but c-span does ask for donations. as fewer people subscribe to cable and satellite, diversifying our funding becomes crucial to continuing offering unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and more. your support ensures c-span remains your reliable source for government proceedings accessible both on digital -- tv and digital platforms, allowing you to access our content wherever you consume news and this is on our faq page. caller: 460 some odd government

entities, i think it's time to scale back on some of. that's what i would like to see it a resolution. host: next is sophia in new york on a line for independence. good morning. caller: good morning, kimberly. it's my first time calling since you have been with c-span. i told alex you are polite, intelligent, and i like the way you fact-check us. thank you. happy new year. merry christmas. and be strong. i told john the first time, please be strong when mr. trump is in the office. you've got to watch. when, my darling, they hacked his email. it was miserable. i will pray for you. i love you. just be strong and just keep doing what you do. be fair. host: did you have any

resolutions that you wanted for lawmakers heading into 2025? caller: lawmakers, i hope, you know, god is watching america. he is watching. we do have to worry. we have to work through all the stuff. let them do what they do. john, whatever, what is it, the speaker? i don't know, i'm not comfortable with him. but whatever the decision they make, we are going to be ok, kimberly. ok? host: ok. caller: i love you. host: next is aurora in florida on our line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes. caller: how are you? host: good. thank you. what resolutions do you think lawmakers should be making in 2025? caller: i think they should really, really make resolutions to make america stronger. i mean, you know, not so much,

oh, i want to go over this party line or this party, that they should work together and come from my's. you know just compromise. you know. and not to compromise in a way that will hurt america, but i will make america stronger, especially for school i think they should focus more on school and education and make that, you know, to where the kids will really learn and make schools stronger, you know, so that they can progress to go to college. and we need this kind of community to work and be involved in so many areas that i think schools are not teaching productive stuff. and they're coming out of college, and they don't know what to do, so i think those are the things that they should focus on in education. i think a strong. i think, too, we are not the savior of the world, but we've

always been there. and yes, we can extend a hand, but you know, more focus on the needs of america for now, because i think we have kind of lost our way in that area. host: ok. a rip is in fedex berg -- rip is in fredericksburg, virginia. good morning. caller: i think all illegal immigrants in the united states should be deported. and the reason i say that is because all of my references in life have told us that we need to take care of our own and we do not need to take care of people from other countries. i think that the main thing that needs to take place is all the deficits that we have with all the other countries, which is almost every single country in the world, any of their children, which are there people, who come to these united states and we care for and we pay for, that amount of money that we use to take care of said

people should be deducted from the deficit that we owe that country. and if we would do that, those other countries would stop dead in their tracks and say hey. host: just to be clear, when you say deficit, are you referring to like trade deficit or federal debt held in bonds by people in other countries or other governments? caller: any amount of this country -- any amount of money that this country owes another country should be deleted from the amount of money that we pay for an individual to illegally come into our country, even though biden flew in massive numbers of people in order to evade having to go through the borders, we need to do that. we are broke. we are dead broke. and you know, money, what is it called? the bitcoin money, all that

money is going to usurp the american dollar. could be wrong, could be right. but i think i'm right. and i think if you look at what's going on in the united states, i am not a trump guy, i am not a democrat by any stretch of the imagination, but i do think that trot has a great handle on test trump has a great -- trump has a great handle on what may be able to take place. but i think all the references that our nation has over thousands of years over the world has given us the references to know and withdrawn that out with the bathwater. and we need common sense. and remember, you know, when you put your hand on a red-hot iron, you're going to be burned. that's how they reference. anyway, thanks. good. goodyear. bye. host: pat is in florida on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: hi. yes. i think that 2025 could be the

year of people with disabilities. disabilities across the board. we had the paralympics in paris last year. the paralympians had been invited to the white house. and i think that is something that wouldn't cost anything. [indiscernible] from national to state to local for us to make 2025 the year of people with disabilities.

host: so, i am looking here, pat, and it looks like biden did back in september welcome both u.s. olympians and paralympians at the white house following their success in paris. so it looks like some of the paralympians were able to visit the white house. host: that's awesome. -- caller: that's awesome. i missed it. host: that was back in september. caller: and also, to say, social security and medicare and medicaid and make housing affordable for seniors and people with disabilities. host: pat just mentioned social security. there is a story here in "the new york post" about that looking ahead to 2025 saying

congress must make a social security resolution in 2025 and elon musk can help. this article going on to say that to social security and medicare have some 10 years left before their trust funds are exhausted and they will no longer provide full benefits congress knows the deadline. every year, a report from the program's trustees spells it up. the latest figures say social security will run dry beginning in 2035 with medicare following suit the next year, yet those estimates from may are already out of date because the senate decided to ring out 2024 by passing a proposal that actually makes social security less solvent and brings a breakdown a full year closer. and i will skip down just a bit. with the program actually needs if it's going to survive another generation is an opposite approach, means testing to match limited resources with the people who need the most rather than expending payouts to people

with other retirement resources. and then down here, it also says that if congress cannot get serious about entitlement reform, elections at the start of the next decade will be overwhelmed by the crisis, which will not confront candidates with -- which will confront candidates with a choice of state cuts, higher taxes, or quickly, not gradually, raising the eligibility age or implementing means testing. the longer congress postpones the reckoning, the more painful it will be and the greater threat some next-generation bernie sanders turns the emergency into a class war. iris is in south ligon, michigan on our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning and happy new year to all. i believe our government should be investing more money into education. and bringing science back into public schools so children have an interest in it.

we are needing doctors in this country desperately. and i think it would behoove our government to put a little bit of their income aside as far as salary towards putting up scholarships for people to study medicine so we have more doctors and nurses in this country and not sending them to other countries to help people out that are producing more doctors than we are. we are in desperate need of medical service in this country. you should not have to wait months to get an appointment. more specialists more interested in the nation's health and not in their own. a couple pennies aside couldn't hurt you guys. really? come on, let's do it. thank you. host: let's get some, some text

message and social media. jimbo in mountain hall, arkansas says one of the new year's resolutions for lawmakers, i would tell lawmakers to make a resolution to start behaving like adults. that's it. and dan in pennsylvania says save usa traditions, dollar as the base currency, english as the national language, daylight savings time, etc. and rob in huntington, west virginia says it won't happen, but i'd like to see lawmakers push evidence-based solutions to tackle some of the more critical problems facing the country rather than just doing what's popular with their constituents. no matter how misguided it is to keep their jobs. back in november, representative pramila jayapal of washington reached her term limit as the head of the democratic progressive caucus and she gave some comments about what the fight ahead for democrats

specifically will look like in congress. let's listen to her thoughts. rep. jayapal: look, i have said that i think we need to rebuild the party. i think for too long, our party has been held hostage to big money interests. some of that fact comes from -- some of that comes from the fact that we allow money in politics that are destructive to the voice of the people getting through. some of that is due to long-standing structures like the filibuster, or you can have a simple majority pass all kinds of bills and a democratic house and then they won't get the in a democratic senate. but it also has to do with how willing we are to fight for working people and poor people across this country. and i am very deliberately putting in poor and working people, because if you look at the results of how we lost the under 100,000 category of voters, this is very important for us to recognize. people are tired. and you might say to me, well, how come, is that a rejection of

the biden-era policies on the things we got done in the first two years? and i would say it's not a rejection. i have not seen many talking about this but tell me if some of you have. we passed a whole bunch of really important pandemic relief era policies during the trump administration. it was democrats that put their name on those relief checks. rent relief, mortgage assistance, public transit assistance, child tax credit, small business assistance. you can go through the list of tings we passed and then they got taken away. they got taken away by republicans getting elected to the house and no longer could we generate the will to keep those in place. so tangibly, people did lose something. they were measurably worse off because now they had inflation with no assistance from the federal government, which democrats have pushed so hard.

i don't think we message that well. i think we need to figure how to do better on that. host: back to your calls asking what resolutions should lawmakers makin -- make in 2025? our numbers, for democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. this go to kathy in hanover, massachusetts on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning and happy nature. i have two basic things. one is when there's a split congress, meaning the houses led by one party, the senate is led by another, they often pass things either in one, you know, in the house or the senate, and throw it over to the other side, which does not get past because of leadership. they can't, you're basically doing nothing, right? if you pass something in the house and you know it's

not going to pass in the senate, you might as well do nothing. i am very tired of political leaders doing this and they should not pat themselves on the back for passing something in one house or senate that they know is not going to pass in the other senate or house. you might as well doing nothing. you're getting paid to do nothing, effectively. the other thing. host: i want to hear your other point but what do you think that's going to look like in a, you know, congress where both chambers are controlled by one party? caller: well, they are going to rule the roost. so, they are going to rule the roost. but whichever party is in charge, ideally, they would work together. but i'm just really frustrated with when the house and senate are split. the other thing that drives me nuts is the amount of vacation. people never, i don't hear

people focus as much as how much time these people take off. they take a week in february, they take a week in march, they take a week at easter, they take a week at fourth of july, they take the whole month of august off. they take pretty much a week at thanksgiving, a week at christmas. the amount of time these people take off, presumably using august to fund raise, is insane. we gave them -- we pay them to do a job. i don't get that much vacation every year and i'm pretty-- so,e probably working locally, but it doesn't feel like it's for the people. that's all i had to say. host: all right. marty, new york, on the line for the independence. good morning. caller: good morning, happy new year. am i on? host: yes, go ahead. caller: i wish there would be --

i wish these representatives would endorse term limits. at one time, this wasn't a shirt -- wasn't a full-time job or a career move to be a public servant. eight years, i don't know what the term should be, but it shouldn't be unlimited. someone shouldn't be there for 50 years. it's no good. they make alliances with people. they have their little fans, where they get paid by people. it's not right. for someone to be in a position of power like that for so long. one more thing i want to look at is the department of education. jimmy carter, god bless his soul, started it in the 1970's. since then, education has really gone down. i don't think education should be a top down one person making decisions for everyone everywhere, every state in the

union. let people come up with their own system and then the best ones will survive. the best ones will be copied by other states. basically, that's my idea. that's all i had. host: ok. ricky, good morning. can you turn down the volume on your television and then go ahead? caller: ok, hold on just a second. host: mm hmm. ricky, while you work on that, we are going to go to harold, but we will come back to you. harold is in livingston, tennessee on the line for democrats. go ahead, harold. caller: yes, ma'am. i think they should look at policy that taxes the wealthy

more. in time, they need to look at churches and other nonprofit organizations, as they call them , to pay taxes on things. because they just get all this money and never pay taxes on it. it's to help the people that they are supposed to be helping, but churches are just building massive churches with that money. i think it should be taxed and i really don't like the thing that musk, two people of non-american nationality, they are ruining our economy. host: musk and ramaswamy are american citizens. caller: they are, ramaswamy was born here, i understand that completely, but you know it's like becoming a chinese citizen

or whatever with this big job. my dedication and loyalty would always be to my home country. i don't like that part of it. not that they aren't smart, they are very capable of doing the job. but i think that when you get around, here in tennessee we have a runaway system where people here, they take a job that pays insurance because they have to work all the time. there's a lot of jobs here in tennessee that have health care offered in factories. the factories, they sign up on team care and get hit for nothing and don't want to work in a factory. host: sorry, teen care? i don't know what that is. caller: it's like a medicare thing. like in kentucky and stuff like that. host: thank you. caller: people get all ahead,

they quit their jobs in the factories. they need factory workers to take the job. they don't care if they have a lot or not, i guess you could say. they get on that and the people here, it's breaking us. it started out as a good thing. kids helping people, get on their jobs and get on team care, several children could have jobs in a factory. right now it's kind of a free thing. i guess me calling and complaining maybe is a bad thing, but just hoping for the best for president trump? let's go with it and see what happens. thank you. host: stuart is in wisconsin on the line for independents. good morning. caller: hello, good morning. host: what resolutions it should lawmakers have in 2025? caller: i like the point he was

making about the economy and such. they should bring back homesteading or whatever. the deal used to be that when you stepped off the boat in america, for any citizen, you give it your full all, give everything your fullest effort, get like a nice house, a sack of potatoes or whatever, but you give a full effort and get a sweet deal out of it. that's kind of gone the way of the dodo. that's not a good thing, i think. host: where do you think the land should come from? those opportunities? at the time they were taking band previously settled by native americans. caller: i'm an honorary native american. host: if policies like that were to come back, how do you think that would be implemented? caller: i'm not quite sure, really. smarter people than me can figure it out. but the question and problem that people have with the modern economy is it's very

exploitative in general, right? you kind of work very hard at a factory, you work very hard at an office in a city somewhere, but you are not making the real term wages that you need to to afford a lifestyle that would justify any amount of rack bait -- backbreaking labor, right? kind of makes more sense to start off with that more basic promise, motivate people with a carrot and not a stick. host: ok. let's go to dave in cincinnati, ohio, on the line for independent callers. caller: thank you for taking my call, happy new year. host: thank you. caller: i would like to see not only the government resolve to solve this immigration so-called problem, which is really not a problem, because we have people from all over the world coming, wanting to come and live here and contribute to our great

society. i wish that congress and the people in government would realize they are coming here to help us, not to hurt us. host: ok. ricky is back from north carolina on the line for republicans. thanks for getting back in touch, ricky. caller: you're welcome. host: what resolutions do you think lawmakers should make into thousand 25? caller: they should fix the -- host: vicki? caller: yeah? host: go ahead. caller: yeah, i think they should fix the [indiscernible] tougher and more stricter than they do now. host: ok. in november, republican congressman carlos gimenez was

speaking with "the washington post" about what's ahead in 2020 five in terms of gop legislative priorities. let's listen to that. [video clip] >> number one, we will prioritize the border. we'll do that. and we will get rid of destructive regulations. there are $3 trillion in regulations happening in america. ingenuity at american prosperity, we need to get on board with that. and we need to get on board with energy. trump has said that he wants to unleash american potential when it comes to energy production. i wholeheartedly agree. the best thing that we can do right now is start to substitute russian, iranian, venezuelan oil with american oil and natural gas. not only will that hamper our enemies around the world, but also help our allies and help america. so, you know, in a nutshell those are some of the things we

need to do. we obviously also want to start to reduce the costs of government. i know he's going to be appointing i guess elon musk at cutting these bureaucracies. when i was a mayor, the first thing i did in 2011 when i was the winner, i reduced to government by 10% because we were going through economic crisis. i can tell you that we did that and we didn't skip a beat. the government worked a lot better. we were able to eliminate 10% of the workforce. i don't know how much of a percentage of the actual costs to the government. but it can be done and it needs to be done. federal bureaucracy is too bloated. people are there making jobs or making work for someone else and trying to justify their existence. from what i've seen, it's way over bloated and we need to bring it under control. host: looking for your suggestions on the resolutions

lawmakers should make into thousand 25. carmen is in pompano beach on the line for democrats. caller: one of mine, there's a lot of them. but the main one would be lying. i see a lot of lying going on. i would love to see them pass something on news stations where there has to be a system of fact checking. especially during campaign time. i see all the lies flying around. i think it causes a lot of animosity and it divides the country. the constitution has freedom of speech, but that's not anything that comes out of your butt, confusing people so much that you don't know who to vote for. if we take care of that, we might get some more honest people. they seem to do the better for the people. no idea how the government can take care of the people of the

country when you've got liars, cheats, corrupt people in there. then we get a corrupt, lying, cheating system. if you just go back to the beginning to take care of that amendment where freedom of speech is nothing to do with lying out of your butt, it would help to get the country back on the right track. the other thing is, i'm hearing from people, they are worried about taxing the wealthy. well, they are the ones lying on the taxes. getting away with cheating on the taxes. we have a lot more people in the country than ever before. so, we need enough taxes for the government to do the job to take care of the people. so, you have people like me who work my butt off all year, middle-class income, paying a tax rate more than the wealthiest people. a lot of people out there in the country don't even know what they get away with. you don't hear about the billionaire who took his yacht

five miles off the coast of florida so that he could purchase it without paying taxes. you don't hear that in the news. you just hear about how the single mom is getting free food stamps. that's all we ever hear about. we don't hear about the wealthy. that's it. host: ok. let's get a couple of your comments from texts and social media. rj from missouri says that there are so many abandoned houses in the country. a resolution to fix them up and give them to the homeless. stephen massachusetts says make a plan that no lawmakers can lie. if they do, they need to leave. that includes fbi and police. it should be illegal to lie when they interrogate people. david says on facebook, stop giving money to foreign governments. charlotte in -- i'm not sure where from -- says first of all

a resolution for lawmakers to report our health care system as we are the wealthiest nation on earth. there is no rational reason as to why we are not the healthiest nation on earth. medicare for all is a human right. no huge profits for the insurance industry. lower costs for prescription drugs and raise the minimum wage to a living wage because millions of workers should not have to worry about how they will pay their rent or buy food for their kids. grow up and be responsible for the constituents that voted you in. get rid of citizens united. you can send us a message on social media, facebook.com/c-span or on x at @cspanwj. or you can text us, (202) 748-8003. jena, birmingham, alabama, on the line for independents. good morning, gina. caller: we've got a lot -- i've got a lot to say. these people sound like communists. you want universal health care

when we are 36 trillion dollars in debt and it's a trillion dollars per year to pay interest? as far as the rich paying more? they already pay more. except for hunter biden, who got away with it because his daddy gave him a pardon. he didn't pay no taxes. host: were there other resolutions? caller: my resolution would be that the house would make a resolution that says the house cannot pass anymore crs. host: continuing resolutions and for short-term funding bills. caller: right. you got to pass a budget. you got to balance that budget. we are broke. we are bankrupt, now. we have to buy the money to turn on the lights in the capital. does nobody understand that? america is not a democracy.

if i hear that one more time, i'm going to throw up. we are a republic. there is no where in the constitution that says anything about democracy. if you don't know the difference, you need to learn. host: ok. cindy on facebook says something similar to what we were just hearing, that lawmakers need to seriously address our national debt. let the people know the size of the chunk is being taken out of the budget every year. gregory is in sherman oaks, california, democratic line. good morning, gregory. caller: good morning, everybody. happy new year. today, the first day of 2025 is the absolute exact middle of the decade during which quite a few expectations were raised and during which we were supposed to

lower the carbon emissions. especially from highly polluted countries, by approximately 50% in order to avoid the worst outcomes of climate destruction. not only are we nowhere near that, it's only gone up. i cannot believe the inattention to this existential problem that is going to make not just the costs of eggs go up, it will make the costs of everything go up, including multiple billion-dollar disasters. people are worrying about the difference between the republic and a democracy? or bathroom policies? or even the costs of gasoline? which is still pretty cheap, not accounting for its environmental externalities. host: gregory, what are you hoping that lawmakers will do in this regard in 2025? caller: one thing they need to

do is put a price on carbon. we also need to reinstate the paris climate accords that i suspect donald trump is about to once again [no audio] host: looks like we lost you, gregory. joseph, green valley, on the line for independent collars. good morning. caller: i think it's time for people -- i think it's time for the elected officials and easy to realize they were put in place by the working people of america and they need to do their job. also, people as a whole need to stop looking at the party for the instructions on how to vote. people are forgetting to analyze each individual they are going to vote for. they need to find out who they like. not what the party says as gospel.

the party rules the world, the party is ruled by dollars. people could get it back if they would start looking at who they are voting for and stop looking at the party. host: joseph, you said you want congress to start doing their job. specifically, what do you want them to start getting done while they are up on the hill? caller: who is telling the party how to vote? you hear muska saying he's going to do it once. he's not an elected official. why are they listening to him? why aren't they listening to the budget that comes directly from the house? it's not -- yeah, the president comes up with one, either party, they come up with it, but it still needs to originate from the party. or the people. host: i understand, from the

house of representatives, funding bills have to start there. all right, let's go to dodge city, kansas, on the republican line. good morning. caller: yes, i hope donald trump, the republicans, and all politicians are listening. right now one of the biggest problems we have is water. water is a needed resource. there are water aquifers and rivers that are drying up. cities, farmers who need water to grow crops. cities that need water. this is something that can be done with the oceans that we have. if water is taken from the ocean and pumped into desalinization plants, we could build pipelines to pipe -- pump water across the

state to cities and states and it could also be pumped into dry river beds. cleaned through the sands down into the aquifers. this could create jobs galore. host: do you imagine that this is something that should be paid for by the federal government or something the state should be responsible for? caller: it's going to be paid for by itself. when people start getting water, they can grow crops like crazy. we can have anything we want with these new waters. we can grow crops like never before. we could have new cities, new towns, new swimming pools, new water attractions. water slides. just ask the mayors of cities. right now they will tell you that we are running out of water

. the aquifers are running dry. lakes are running dry. california has lakes that are running dry. we have a river right through our town. the kansas river is dry. it's been pumped dry by irrigation. this is water that we need. it can be taken from the ocean. people keep saying the water is filling up because of the melting ice at the north pole and the south pole, because of climate change. there is no climate change. but if we start taking water from the oceans, it is going to take water where it is needed and put it into desalinization plants and it is going to create jobs like -- host: so, because what you are

talking about may not be familiar to a lot of folks, i pulled up an article from december 13 in i believe this is the koc journal, one of the kansas news outlets saying half of kansans say they haven't heard of the ogawa aquifer and here's why you should care. it's a critical source of water in western kansas and it is running dry and plays a major role in the daily lives of the people of kansas, even for the people who don't live on top of it. scrolling down a little bit here , the subsurface reservoir trapped between fracture layers of rock and oil saved the region after the infamous dust bowl and remains the source of economic life to the present day, but the groundwater has been running out to support agriculture in the state economy. giving folks some background on what you're talking about. caller: don't you agree?

this would be a job making facility with welders, truckers, building pipelines, building big water towers for cities that need water? if people see the ocean filling and rising, this, it would solve that problem. host: let's hear from donald in washington, d.c., on the independent line. caller: good morning. my suggestion for congress is to fix immigration and the election system. i think the two of them go together. i think that when one party believes you should bring in a lot of minorities to win elections, i think congress

should make a law -- i'm an immigrant myself. my friends are going to crucify me for this. but if you are not born in the united states, you should not be able to vote. i would be very concerned if there were people migrating to my country who were able to decide elections for me, for my country. why this is important, we are importing politicians from other countries to america. you can observe it now, politicians are going somewhere to say i'm black or have indian or have this, they are setting

travel groups. so, if you are not born here, you should not be able to vote. your children who are born here should be able to vote. so that, that, that then, imagine if you have a large group. look at what happened in michigan, where the palestinians were trying to hold joe biden's party. they wanted him to influence the decision-making. so, if you are not a citizen, an american citizen, you should not be able to influence the election like this with american politicians. the other thing is some politicians, i believe that some politicians, they don't see

humans, they just see votes. so, if we are able to fix this action, we would see less problems with minorities because they wouldn't have the opportunity to vote. host: we have a text message from rich in kingsport who said that elderly lawmakers should resolve to retire instead of staying in office into the 80's and 90's. this from mike in cleveland says the congressional pay scale should be based on performance, helping the people, and how much they got done, starting with a minimum pay rate as a normal citizen. now, then, julian's and washington, d.c. on the line for republicans. good morning, julian. caller: hi, it's great to be on. in terms of resolutions for the new year, work across the aisle. people say that every year. i'm not unique in this.

i think there are a couple of great opportunities for the coming year on the foreign policy front. i think the abraham accords caucus in congress, hopefully there can be worked between republicans and democrats to push forward a recognition by saudi arabia that israel is here to stay in the region, officially, helping to bring greater peace to the middle east. i think on the homefront, the republican party has moved a bit more to the center on health care. i think that there are certain democrats that republicans could certainly work with to help move things better and try to reform the system. you know, so every american, you know, they are not going to just have to worry what's going to happen in terms of money. just generally, i think there's

a lot of small issues that politicians care about that i don't follow so clearly between the parties. we have these big debates and major issues and there are always these really small pieces of legislation that a lot of politicians find themselves caring about and i hope that despite the intensity of the rhetoric, people still work across the aisle to get these, to get the small bills passed. thank you very much. host: richard is in brooklyn, new york, on the independent line. good morning, richard. caller: thank you for having me on and happy new year's to you. host: thank you. caller: i would love to see a resolution from a part of the government when they use the american people as a lottery machine. seems like the policies these politicians put before the american people, they are using america, americans to blame for

water shortages and energy problems. these are the individuals actually causing the problems. and then they want to try to sell us something on green energy. this, that, and the other. i think that all the things they try to push on the american people in terms of climate change in particular, i think that these things are things that other countries want to bring here and push on the american people through policy and then the next thing you know, we end up coming out of pocket like like the politicians to do better on that front. thank you very much. host: thank you to everyone who called in about what resolutions lawmakers should have in 2025.

at the break on this first day of 2025 we will be joined by two top journalists with their new year's predictions for washington. up next, nationally syndicated columnist cal thomas and later, chris lehman, d.c. bureau chief of the nation magazine. at first, d.c. celebrated with its own fireworks last night. washington. a big thunderstorm came through with some lightning that looks like it struck the capitol building overnight. quite a show here last night. we will be right back. ♪ >> after become the longest serving party leader in senate history, mitch mcconnell is stepping down from his leadership position this week. watch c-span tonight at 8:00

p.m. eastern as we explore the life and career of senator mcconnell. he shares his views on the importance of the senate, and plans for his remaining two years in office as well as other topics. our guest for the program is michael tackett, deputy washington, d.c. bureau chief the associated press and author of a new biography. join us for the career and legacy of senate leader mitch mcconnell at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> brian mcclanahan has a phd from the university of south carolina in history. nine presidents are screwed up america, his view on the presidency is not the traditional one you get from most historians. in the back of his book, the liner notes claim the worst

presidents are the ones who want to perform the country through the power of the federal government which usually means usurping the power of congress for the people. brian mcclanahan focuses a negative spotlight on andrew jackson, abraham lincoln and barack obama and others. >> brian mcclanahan with his book "nine presidents who screwed up america and cointreau who tried to save her." the up-to-date with book to these podcast about books with current nonfiction book releases, plus bestseller lists as well as industry news and trends through insider interviews. you can find about books on c-span now or wherever you get your podcasts.

washington journal continues. host: welcome back. fred looked back at the year in politics and what is to come, we are joined now by cal thomas, also the author of the book a watchman in the night: what i've seen over 50 years reporting on america." guest: you make me sound old, i guess i am. host: impossible. first of all, happy new year. what do you think were some of the biggest political stories of 2024? guest: a lot of people say conservatives are always looking backwards but it is good to know the lessons of history so we repeat the good ones and not the bad ones. the most obvious one is the incredible comeback of donald trump. whether you like them or not if you follow politics this is just unprecedented in our political history.

two assassination attempts, the indictments, the trials and everything else. nobody's ever done this before in politics. i think now also that we are at a point where we've got to do something about the national debt. congress is under both democrats and republicans kicking the can down the road and i think they did that again in 2024. pretty soon you're going to kick the debt ceiling to the attic and then through the roof and that is where we are right now. my favorite story i must tell you from 2024 is the comeback of the washington commanders. i'm just thrilled about the new ownership and what they are doing. and we are in the playoffs and it is going to be fun for professional football in washington again at least the next couple of games. host: you mentioned the comeback

of donald trump in the 2024 election, which overshadowed in many ways the journey of president biden and his surprise stepping back from the campaign. talk about that process and what made the democrats should have done differently. guest: i feel sorry for president biden. i think he was misused and abused by his party. the cover-up by the media of his mental decline i think was a scandal and then when kamala harris came in, who did not win a single primary in 2016, she was the replacement presidential candidate, she couldn't articulate a series of policies that she believed in as she was even asked on fox news about her role in covering up biden's acuity decline, and she didn't really answer the question.

he's always been sharp, he with the last guy in the room, all of that was lies and many democrats have covered up for it as well. but i think the democrats problem is that they don't have an agenda, or they have an agenda but the people rejected. they don't have any ideas for have to deal with the debt, foreign policy ideas and so many other things. so i think donald trump has a great opportunity if he seizes it and doesn't make it about himself to actually get something done that promotes the general welfare, not just the individual welfare of politicians. host: speaking of donald trump as an individual, one of the big stories this year was his legal cases, in particular its felony conviction which is a first for any current or former president. why does that not necessarily resonate with republic and voters? guest: for one reason it is what alvin bragg did in new york, ratcheting up what would have

been misdemeanors into 34 individual felony counts. a lot of people and even some democrats looked at that as law fair, anywhere that has been coined. you have the attorney general of new york who ran on a platform of getting donald trump. people look at that and say that is not a very good president, let's just stick with evidence. the whole case of course was about whether he paid off an adult film star as hush money, and i don't know where this is going. judge merchan has not sentenced him yet. he could forget about it until after the term, he could just vacate the thing and go on, and of course you have for jack smith figure here in washington, fani willis was discredited virgil with the relationship with a boyfriend was on the staff. so trump has come out of this not 100% clean, but they called clinton the comeback kid when he

won new hampshire in that first election. i think trump now owns that label. he really is the comeback kid more than nixon, more than clinton. host: let's look forward a bit to the first 100 days which is something we will be marked here in washington. what are his top priorities when he returns to office when republicans have full control of congress? guest: full control doesn't mean what it used to. instead of forming a circular firing squad and trying to get purest legislation through, which is almost always impossible, they need to focus on what is doable. trump says his number one priority is going to be the border. i think he's going to engage in the mass deportation of criminals, violent criminals that polls show that americans are fine with that.

where it is going to get a little dicey is when he goes after lower-level illegal aliens who crossed the border, but i think he's got most of the public on the side of that. the national debt is $36 trillion. the interest on it is $1 trillion. no nation has ever been able to survive that kind of debt in history. you just can't do it. you can have massive national debt and you can't have a structure that defines right from wrong. so all those things we have right now in place, i think trump and the republican congress need to deal with that starting with the debt. host: do you support president-elect trump's plan that he has articulated thus far regarding nasty for tatian? guest: yes, i do. we have laws and there are integration laws. if you are going to say those laws don't matter, how you feel

this flaws. but if you have those laws in place and allow people to break them, that is disrespect for the law. we have to make a choice. again, every other nation on earth has laws about who gets in. when i travel abroad that passport get stamped, i'm only allowed to stay for 90 days without a special visa. i'm not allowed to get any benefits from the government. i'm not allowed to hold a job in these countries. but in america, it seems we've got we are the world. we can't afford hospitals in california to close down because of the burden of immigrants. social services are now being overburdened. you look at some of these meetings in chicago where people have turned up to criticize mayor johnson to his face because they say he's putting illegal aliens ahead of u.s. citizens. same with the military. veterans aren't getting as many benefits as some of the illegal aliens. this kind of stuff has got to

stop or we will cease being the united states of america. host: some of the pushback against what trump has proposed in terms of mass deportation have come from the religious community and you speak at length about your faith. i want to read a statement from the california catholic conference which says they have a piece here, in my not here, i am your mother, referring to some other writings of faith, and it says we realize that the cas for mass deportations and raids on undocumented individuals and migrant families have created genuine fear for so many in thdiocese rooted in the gospel of the jesus christ and the sacred dignity of every peon, we commit to accompanying and walking in solidarity with you, our migrant brothers, sisters and families to this uncertain time. we will gather information and resources and continue to vocate for your dignity and family unity. we pray with you that any

enacted policies restore a sense of security and peace for citizens as well as those seeking to find a home in this blessed land. to achieve that, policies must reflect empathy and solicitude with due regard for the rights of children and those fleeing violent and impoverished countries while seeking to provide respite for serious offenders. your thoughts on that? guest: not all of these are children or some of the children are used by cartels to get them into the country. i'm fine with a lot of what they say but there are legal ways to do this. there are border points where people can show up and demonstrate that they are fleeing oppression, violence in their country, and legally get into the united states. the pictures we see on television are none of that. they are cutting wires, they are coming in from places like china and many african nations and south america. it doesn't appear to me that

they are coming in for economic purposes. some of the people interviewed, and by the way, fox news is the only network that has been doing consistent reporting on this issue, some of those people admit that they are not coming in fair persecution reasons, they are coming in for economic reasons. there is still a way to do that legally through eagle border crossings, and that is the way to do it. while the catholic church is fine and making the statements and i agree a lot with principles on human life from the unborn to the end of life, there is a legal way to do it. and to suggest that people should ignore the law, in fact, break the law i think is counter to what the scriptures they claim to believe in state. we are to obey the law, just laws, and if we are not going to obey them, we need to repeal them. host: you mentioned the images of people crossing the border on television, but some of the

images that we saw in previous trump administration's were also of family separation, children in cages. guest: like the obama administration. host: the obama administration as well. what do you think about family separation rolled out in the way that president-elect trump is talking about? guest: it is going to be difficult but he has said we are going to deport the whole family and i am ok with the dreamers. if you were a child and came to this country anything here for 20 years, 30 years, you're not committing crimes, you are abiding by the law, you've done a good job or whatever, i think we can make provisions for them to stay. but if you are part of the cartel operation, your smuggling in fentanyl and some of these other things breaking their laws, contribute into the deaths of americans, then you deserve to be deported. and i would point out, and you know this, that there were more illegal aliens deported under

the obama administration than under the trump administration. the biden administration has deported quite a number as well. so it is not just trump. we can't decide which laws we are going to obey and which laws we are going to ignore. host: i want to circle back to some of the points about abortion but before that i want to remind folks that you can call in with questions for our guest. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. of course this is a big story as well throughout the year, the continuing fallout of the overturning of roe v. wade. president trump has said he does not support a federal law banning abortion. do you, and what would that look like? guest: we have to these things incrementally, those of us who are pro-life. it has taken over 50 years since

roe v. wade. we didn't get to that point overnight. there with the philosophy where men could do whatever they wanted with women. no consequence at all. and hugh hefner, the author of that philosophy said that abortion was one of the positive, in his view, results of being promiscuous. and then the magazine that said that nice girls go to heaven and bad girls go everywhere. so you had that philosophy of do your own thing in the 70's and 80's with millions without consequences of unborn babies killed. but the media never show you women who regret having had them. whoever addressed this, they always have stories or op-ed columns by women who say they are glad they had an abortion and it would have ruined their lives if they had a child but you never hear from the other side. this is going to have to be done incrementally. the presidency -- pregnancy health centers are helping women

during pregnancy and after with their children and with their expenses and other things. trump could highlight them. legislatively, as of this point trump's right to leave it to the states for now. until we bring the country along to respecting all life. it is not just the unborn. you look at people being shot in the seek -- street for sneakers or the ceo of united health care was. disrespect for human life at all levels and now there is talk about euthanasia. we've got to get back to a respect for human life at all stages and all backgrounds before we talk about national federal bands on abortion. host: what about some things that trump potentially could do on his own? a lot of talk at medication abortion, for example. a statement here where it says that threats to medication abortion is what we are going to

be watching most closely, especially in the first months and years of his trump administration. a lot of the abortion policies in place in the first trump administration and that were dismantled by the biden administration, do you expect all of those policies to come back? what do you think about that? guest: one of the things not receiving much attention is his decision to reverse a medical pill abortion, and a lot of women regret starting down that road. many i've talked to, and i've been doing fundraisers for pregnancy health centers for over 30 years, who have had abortions regret them. they say if i hadn't been so pressured by a boyfriend, a parent or whatever, i would have made a different choice. if i could have seen a picture or ultrasound which really were not as available 40 or 50 years ago at they are today, i would have made a different decision. so i think that additional information for women in this abortion pill reversal are all

positive steps in the right direction. when i used to debate this issue i was abused by people who claimed that i want to keep women ignorant. i said fine, let's give women more information. you are implying that they are not smart enough to figure out on their own. i say ok, let's take the labels of the bottles and cans at the supermarket because women should be smart enough to figure out what is in the cans without seeing the label. it gets back to where it is human life come from? the value of it, are we evolutionary accidents, no more valuable than a salad, or are we created by an infinite god, and that is where values come from. it has been that debate since the garden of eden. host: for folks who maybe are unfamiliar with what you were talking about with the medication to reverse abortion, here is the story about it from pbs wisconsin.

what is abortion reversal and ready doctors to stand on its practice? opponents of medication abortion promote the use of a prescription to continue a pregnancy but scientific research into this practice is lacking according to the story, and it says proponents of this practice, there is a chance to have some and possibly maintain a pregnancy after a patient has started medication abortion but then changed their mind and want to continue carrying the child. alternately, those of you abortion is health care say that abortion reversal lacks any scientific backing and therefore is not medically sound and could be unsafe. so there's more stories about this but obviously it is a little bit controversial. host: everything is controversial these days. if it is not controversial it doesn't get any attention. heartbeat international, the largest pro-life organization in the united states with chapters overseas has stories about this being very effective for women

who regret going down the road, starting the abortion procedure. so if wisconsin says there's not enough scientific evidence, let's get more scientific evidence. if we lack something, let's go for it. host: let's go for your calls. guest: always my favorite time. host: hot springs national park, arkansas, line for democrats. good morning. caller: mr. thomas, you are talking about the national debt earlier. i think we would all agree that is probably the biggest problem we've got. something i don't understand and maybe you can tell me, where can we see a pie chart of the debt, the spending each year? the largest part of it is entitlements. my standing is that there is a separate fund, social security fund.

i've got a paycheck that takes money for social security out and i pay income tax on a separate deal. charity also has a separate fund called entitlements. how would cutting entitlements help the federal budget any, since there are two separate funds, the general fund and the social security fund? if i'm correct, cutting social security wouldn't help the overall -- host: before cal responds i will porpoise and data from the treasury department showing that for the fiscal year to date 2025 because we are in that fiscal year, about 20% of federal spending is going to social security, 16% to medicare, so the entitlements jb is talking about. guest: this whole idea of entitlements.

when i was growing up it was inspiration followed by motivation followed by perspiration. now it is entitlement. if you look at some of these medicare supplements, ads on television especially during the open season, it is all about free dessert and entitlement. it is not about what you can do for yourself. your social security check is borrowed money. it is taxes paid by younger people to you. everybody knows social security and medicare is about to go broke in the next decade. democrats, republicans, independents if they are honest with tell you it has got to be fixed. but in washington if you fix a problem you no longer have the issue and the politicians would rather have the issue than fix the problem and that is where we are but social security and medicare. i happen to agree with some others who have studied this for years that what we need is an alternative to the system right now. that means investments in the stock market. people who are on social

security or are near retirement should be able to get the current system. younger people 45 or under should have the option of being able to invest in the stock market and any other thing and take care of themselves. that is the way to preserve social security and medicare and to help people be more financially independent when they reach retirement by deciding to invest for themselves. host: let's go to kyle in clearwater, florida on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question for kind of how you expect the media treatment of trump to be. i think most people against trump understand that he is a pretty corrupt and unethical person. we've known what he's done in the past, even though there's a lot of misrepresentation about it, his role in january 6 and of course, the documents case.

but his recent attacks on the media, i'm less concerned about abc and that $50 million donation and more kind of him going after anyone that has negative coverage. just recently, thanksgiving day post untruth social, insane ranting, scary, concerning. this new year's day, overnight posts, insane, crazy posting. he's going after the media, so if the media cover and say what he does, they will get punished. so you have to be like fox news, and when he does all this insane shit -- host: keep the language clean and allow cal to respond. guest: i started out with nbc news here in washington and was surrounded by real journalists, people who come from newspapers and wire services. today we have the lowest trust

in the media we've ever had according to gallup. i think trump is really wasting a lot of time and political capital by attacking the media when so many people don't trust it. just look at the last election. people didn't believe a lot of the stuff that they were being fed and they have so many alternative sources now for information. and you can argue that is good or bad depending, but i think trump is wasting a lot of precious time just attacking the media and i don't like this idea of lawsuits. the best way to overcome this is what ronald reagan did. speak over their heads to the american people and communicate yourself. this constant railing against the media and lawsuits is bad. bad for the country and bad for journalism. host: boston, massachusetts on the line for independent. caller: the reason i called and was you, the moderator read something about churches remarking on deportation and the

guest here immediately jumped and tried to run away from that, didn't answer it, didn't address it and started talking about how cartels bring kids into the country. it was to get you to remark on ripping children from a country that they are living in right now. i don't care if cartels bring the kids in, they are here. we ask your guests. guest: the guest's name cal thomas. the host is kimberly. caller: how old are you? guest: that's irrelevant, get to your point. what is your point, are you a just? -- agist? host: what specific they are you asking him?

caller: i don't care about your god or what you think about what the fairytale in the sky is. you are coming from another time. guest: we used to call older people agist, or at least presume they had wisdom the mentally demonstrated otherwise. a lot of these children, over 300,000 missing, we don't know where they are. many people believe that border patrol and others, they have been sex traffic. just because you are a child doesn't mean that you are here legally or that you are safe after you get here or that you had a relative to go to once you are here. a lot of this stuff is lies being told by the cartels and others. we have hundreds of thousands, we don't even know where these people are. and again as i mentioned earlier, if you don't control the border, we don't have a country. and as far as my god and pie in the sky, you had better check

that out because you only get one chance. host: schmid, virginia, line for democrats. color: yes, i have two questions for mr. thomas. the reason mr. trump is back in office is the judges that put him back in there. guest: so judges put him back in? what about the voters? caller: below bar of our courts is the reason he is back in office. the next question i'd like to ask you, what would happen to mr. trump, what our founding fathers would have did to him for doing what he did to this country? host: so it seems like james is asking about the role of the courts in trump being able to run again, more or less, and then have the founding fathers

might think of the president-elect. ghost: i think the founding fathers of these ending in their graves before today because of the national debt, because of the open borders, because we are asking too much of government and too little of ourselves. this is one of the reasons government has become so big, government now is the first resource on a last resort which the founders wanted. you had to convict somebody to deprive them of money or their liberty or even of their life in some cases. you can call trump all kinds of nasty names and i agree with a lot of the character questions that have been raised about him, but he's been given, he's getting his days in court. and that is what we have in our american judicial system.

i think for the most part it is fair. host: berkeley springs, west virginia line for republicans. caller: good morning, cal. i'm 86 years old and i've been watching you for many years, and i believe everything you have to say. i'm sure you went to college before the education indoctrination. on the national debt i agree. but i have a question about the biden family. i know you have witnessed what congress came up with, thanks statements, canceled checks, whole works. what is your opinion about the corruption of joe biden and his family?

guest: well they have 20 llcs. i don't know of anyone who has had that many, and we never knew what those limited liability corporations did. what did they do with all the money? some of the critics said it is a form of money laundering, classifieds brother, hunter biden and all these inks. i'd just like to move ahead now. public judgment has been rendered on that, it was rendered on bill clinton. let's move ahead. this is not creating new jobs, this is not lowering dance or grocery prices, this is not getting inflation under control, it is not improving the border, it is not improving schools. fighting battles of the past is not good for the country and there is so much quid pro quo anymore. the republicans trash the democrat leaders and when republicans get back in power, it is back and forth. most people can't relate to this but they can relate to high places and wage and, and that needs to be addressed first of all.

host: sean is in florida, line for independents. caller: i've got a lot of stuff. first, i am a firm believer in the unit party. i don't believe that either one of these political parties is serving the people whatsoever. you are talking about the laws of immigration. if i'm not mistaken, there is a law on the books for immigration that if you hire someone illegal, they get fined can lose their business license. now i bet you $1 million that you can't tell me to companies that have lost a business license for hiring immigrants, yet there is millions of illegals coming in, as you say. so where are these people working? these people are coming here for a reason, they are coming here to work. if they are coming to work why aren't you going after the companies? host: who are you referring to

as you all? in terms of going after them. >> the government themselves. they have the right to enforce laws. guest: that is the problem. i don't know what you're talking about about a business license. people start businesses, there are corporations, they have to live with the laws and file income taxes and yes, there have been laws in the past about penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, and there are many businesses that have a system that if you come in to apply for a job, you have to demonstrate that you are either a legal alien, noncitizen of the united states entitled to work, or you don't get hired. in the somebody knowingly hires an illegal immigrant, there are penalties of course. maybe they are not being enforced that is a problem that begins at the border. host: this is interesting

because leasing groups like agricultural organizations preemptively asking the incoming trump administration to exempt them from any mass deportation because they are worried about not having enough farmworkers. guest: how did we do this before? there were people who came in the believeth thesis, with work permits, 90 day work permits or just during the harvesting season. all done properly and fairly, many of them send money home to their families from the united states and then they went home during the nonproductive harvest season and then they would come back next season and that is perfectly fine. let's go back to that system. it is legal, people don't feel that ice is going to be at their front door the next day and that they are going to be deported. that system works for years. host: richard, line for republicans. good morning. caller:-a catholic my whole life. just in the last presidential

election, and i really realized what catholic charities, how important and how instrumental they then in bringing it illegal immigrants and resettling them here in this country with federal money. and i'd like to know, and i will listen to you off the air, i'd like to know if mr. thomas, and by the way, thank you so much for what you've done over the years, you've been a great conservative voice and i really appreciate it, and how much money is the federal government giving to catholic charities to resettle these immigrants as they come to the united states? and i understand they also have programs in the other countries cap the southern hemisphere here to get down into the country. so thank you so much and happy new year. guest: catholic charities have done some marvelous work in many

different categories. i don't have a figure right now, you can probably google how much if any of the federal government gives the catholic charities. i would think that the church state separation business would prohibit that unless it is only for work and i would have to look that up. maybe kimberly is doing it right now while i'm talking. but i do think once again that the churches, religious institutions, everybody needs to obey the law. and i hate to repeat myself for a third time, but tell me laws that you could get away with breaking and still avoid any penalties. but people who come in in over the border illegally instead of through established checkpoints of which there are 25 or 30, many more through the southern border alone, and then we have some at the northern border of course, i just flat out breaking the law.

if you are going to say you are ok with that, tell me what other laws you would enforce in on what basis. either the law applies to everybody, no one is above the law. that has turned into a joke now because clearly some are. host: i was not able to find an overall number on the amount of federal funding going to catholic charities. along with businesses targeted toward the poor that they get some federal grants, there have been several articles about that. spartanburg, south carolina, line for democrats. caller: good morning, kimberly.

our newspapers down here in spartanburg, your articles help me sharpen my points on opposition of conservative speaking. that is neither here nor there. it basically took the democrats to drag the landscape. they can't get anything done. except for harm, which would be one thing if they had a social security plan. george w. bush, that whole plan across the 2008 financial crisis , it would have been a horrible thing to invest in. you are right that young people do pay. they usually fix this.

matter of fact, they could probably give the disability people a raise, considering the patient. we've got a serial philanderer and habitual liar who got into the white house with 6, 7 bankruptcies and everything he's touched behind him with the exception of reality tv. host: i want to give cal a chance to respond. guest: that was a lot. all politicians lie on some level. in fact, every human lies on some level. the wife comes to the husband, do i look fat in this dress? you can tell the truth if she doesn't suffer the consequences or he could say no you look rate and lie and sleep in the same bed at night. politicians lie. the ultimate power is with us. you mentioned republicans and what they've done in the past. it's going to be interesting to see on friday when the republicans get together and elect a new house speaker or maybe reelect the former speaker

if they are going to continue to engage in a circular firing squad or if they're actually going to focus on solutions to problems which are out there and can be done. the democrats will be united, they always are. they are very good at this. republicans might chip away, and some others think that speaker johnson will not be reelected and these are purists, and they want everything overnight all at once. you can't get that in washington especially among republicans. you've got to focus on where the people are and bring them along and not just to impose things that are not going to work. host: what are your thoughts on johnson's prospects especially now that he's got the endorsement of president-elect trump? guest: i think he is a good man, a moral man, a practicing christian like jimmy carter was. i think his demeanor, is quiet and calm, just the opposite of

trump which has a lot to attract people to it. he's been called a nerd and other things but he has met with every republican member, he said, and he appears not to need their vote. it is not about his ego or his standing. i think he really wants to do things that are good for the country and that advance policies that once again promote the general welfare. host: you reference to the late president jimmy carter who obviously passed this week. do you have any thoughts especially since you covered his administration as well? guest: i didn't cover him as much as helen thomas, but i did get to know him a little bit. i decided to join his sunday school class because i thought the a unique experience, and it was. he really knew the scriptures. he was very good. the difference between knowing and application, but i tell the story which is kind of fun, the

baptist churches, they have a coffee hour afterwards and a table with a little basket to toss some coins into. so we go down there and he reaches in his pocket, doesn't find any change any turns to roseland insisted you bring any money? i said the president of the united states not having enough money for a cup of coffee, i gave him a quarter. years later we met at another function and i reminded him. he reached in his pocket, gave me a quarter and says now we are even. i left that on my desk for years, unable to prove it was really him that gave it to me, but we both knew. host: they will the national day of mourning for president carter on january 9. you can see behind me the flags are flying half-staff kerry washington for him. thank you so much cal thomas, syndicated columnist and author. thank you for your time this morning. coming up later, we are going to hear from chris lehman, the

bureau chief of the nation magazine on his political outlook for 2025 and coming up next, we will take more of your phone calls after the break for this first day of 2025. are you optimistic or pessimistic about the year ahead in washington? you concert calling and now and while your dial again we will show you a portion of some interviews we did november when c stands focus and newly elected members of congress about washington and what they hope to accomplish in the years ahead. we will be right back. >> anytime you're going through conference organization, that seems to be a lengthy process, but we got our leaders elected, we got our rules set for the conference. all of that was a big compliment. really i think as we go into the second week there's probably more of the actual nuts and bolts of orientation. but it's really been a great time to meet colleagues. this was a great opportunity this morning. who would have thought the class

photo would be such an opportunity for democrats and republicans to be able to converse. i had a radio interview i had to do but it was neat when i was out here doing it and i was looking up and all the conversations that were taking place, the gentleman on that from upstate new york, i enjoyed talking to him and meeting him, so i think it has been good. >> it's a little bit like the first week of college, getting to know a lot of folks. really tough races across this country and it is so wonderful to meet together i'm just so impressed. it is an impressive class. a lot of folks have an incredibly dynamic background. it is still surreal, a little bit surreal. last night we visited the archives and to be able to be so close to our founding documents, i teared up a little bit. it's hard to believe that amongst all the chaos in this

country and certainly the results of last week's election, that moment was really special and it really reminded me why we are here, to protect and defend the constitution. >> lots of learning, lots of information. getting ready and set up to be ready to go in january. >> it's been exciting. i'm a current state senator, so this is different and the same in a lot of ways, but i think the orientation has been great. -given the chance to meet a lot of great people on both sides of the aisle and we are looking forward to it. i understand the gravity of the situation, the gravity of my position, and looking forward to serving the people here and all of the constituents. >> what was it like when you walk onto the house floor as congresswoman elect? >> i'm still not used to that title.

it just never stops being special. it never stops being cool. this is a real honor that so many people put their faith in me to represent them and i'm never going to take that for granted. >> when you went on to the house floor for the first time as congressman-elect, what was that like? >> that is just sort of an awe-inspiring moment. mike johnson is an incredible constitutional attorney and knows his history inside and out. just to have his personal reflections and explanation of things was just very, very meaningful. so it was a great evening when we walked onto the floor. >> it was surreal. you know how much history has happened in that chamber. to be a part of it, to be sitting in those seats know when what we are about to take on his humbling, exciting, and it is an honor. i'm also used to assigned

seating. i am a former teacher but also a state senator so we are going to have to figure that one out. >> i got very emotional me got to go on the house floor for the first time. i've never been there and i grew up watching the state of the union, watching everyone walk in and hold congress, and now to be able to be there myself. i didn't expect to get emotional, but all of us have worked hard to get here, and we are still all very excited. announcer: washington journal continues. host: this segment we like to hear from you. you optimistic or pessimistic for the year ahead in politics? the number for democrats is (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. before we turn to your calls, we are also following the tragic news out of new orleans about the accident there which the new

orleans mayor has declared a terrorist attack on bourbon street, although the fbi is not confirming that. this reporting from fox news at least 10 people are dead and dozens injured in new orleans after a driver plowed a car into a crowded new year's revelers on bourbon street. police and city officials said at least 10 people were killed and dozens injured after the driver plowed the car into a large canal in bourbon street in new orleans at approximately 3:15 a.m. eastern on new year's day. city officials said 30 injured people including a police officer have been transported to local hospitals. police are ready to hold a news conference wednesday morning to discuss the importance and new orleans mayor center city fell victim to a terrorist attack at a news conference wednesday after the driver plowed into that large crowd. however, fbi special agent

alicia duncan said the incident is not a terrorist attack in comments delivered after the mayor spoke. the fbi said that at least 10 people were killed and 30 injured after the driver intentionally rammed into the crowd and then began firing a weapon at police officers from his vehicle as he crashed the car. police said the fbi said improvised explosive devices were found and that investigators are working to confirm whether the devices are viable and authorities are urging people to new orleans to avoid bourbon street while the investigation is ongoing. now then, to your calls about whether you're optimistic or pessimistic about the year ahead in politics. bonnie is in lancaster, pennsylvania on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. it is so tragic what happened in new orleans, but yes, i'm very optimistic, and i believe everybody has to just be cool

and wait until the 20th and see what happens. the new people elected, no matter what party, i think they are younger, i think they want to truly work to represent the people within their community, and this is our last chance. this is our last chance of salvaging whatever we have, but i do believe that this situation in new orleans, how can the mayor say terrorist and the fbi say no? this is another contradiction. we just have to be so optimistic and know that we are going to clean house and be there he transparent in 2025. host: the wall street journal has an op-ed that is similar to what bonnie was saying, that the new year isn't a blank slate, but it is a chance to practice tolerance and treat our neighbors more charitably. going on to say we can reform

our policies and institutions. we can change ourselves gradually in small ways but we are always beginning from where we are and history limits what is possible for us to do in the present. neither individuals nor societies can be unburdened by what has been, as kamala harris found out the hard way. our past has shaped our present and the more we claim the right to shape the future, the more accountable we must be for our past. raymond is in pensacola, florida on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm not sure i'm either pessimistic or optimistic because of the last bill that was passed. there was so much extra stuff in there rather than trying to help people like in north carolina, the people hurt by forest fires. and we've got the same people in congress who i believe right now

, the democrats are trying to make sure they face is again in two years. that's what they are going to work on. that's all. host: you are mentioning the recent government funding bill. speaker johnson was speaking with reporters at the capital after that vote on the government funding bill on december 20, talking about president elect trump, elon musk and the position of speaker of the house. >> so i was in constant contact with president trump throughout this process, most recently about 45 minutes ago. he knew exactly what we were doing and why, and this is a good outcome for the country. i think he is certainly happy about this outcome as well. elon musk and i talked about an hour ago and we talked about the extraordinary challenges of this job and i said do you want to be speaker of the house? i don't know.

he said this may be the hardest job in the world, i think it is. we are going to unify this country and we are going to bring the america first agenda to the people they getting in january. we cannot wait to get started. host: we are looking for your thoughts on whether you're optimistic or pessimistic for the year ahead in politics. some responses we received on social media, very optimistic for the top 1%. not so much for the remaining 99%. james hopkins says as a person of left-leaning and progressive values, i see very little cause for optimism. those like myself who value our safety nets, equal justice under the law, diversity, equity and inclusion and abortion rights, prolabor industrial policies, a two state solution in the middle east and strong support for nato based political opponents with no regard for those things. rather than joining forces with

the new sheriff in charge, my site instead will have to keep them from destroying our democracy. and grace says i'm optimistic for trump being our president, pessimistic that the left will allow him the peace and quiet necessary for trump to accomplish our plans. the same forces that kept america and chaos during his first administration are likely planning a comeback. pelosi, obama, wbs, who, u.n. and maybe more. portland, oregon on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i am pessimistic because i am a true democrat and i think trump is just a criminal, and it really bothers me that we have elected this man to be our president. he couldn't get a job at mcdonald's if he tried, his

record would not allow it. i am just sad about that and pessimistic, although the one thing i see for optimism is the new people coming and that you showed. it sounds like they really want to come in and do the right thing, and i think if we have two years of trump, the people that voted for him will understand he has sold his presidency to elon musk who has a huge conflict of interest, and between the two of them, they want all the money and all the power, and anybody who is not a billionaire is going to suffer. and maybe that is optimistic because this country will finally understand we have to elect nice, honest men like jimmy carter, for example. there's something to be said for someone who tells the truth and really tries to help people. i don't see that coming in the

next year. thank you. host: larry is in north carolina on the line for republicans. good morning, larry. caller: good morning, nice to speak with you this morning. i'm very optimistic about the future here with donald trump because he is a man that will make things happen. he will make our country great again instead of a president like we had in the past who just watched things happen instead of making things happen. i disagree with this lady that spoke before about jimmy carter. i was very much around when jimmy carter was president and they have to say he is the worst president we've ever had. he's a great man and i voted for him, but he was a terrible mistake because things were really bad under jimmy carter. interest rates were very high and gas, you couldn't hardly find gas at the time. he did not know how to run a

country. he should have stayed in the peanut business in georgia. that's all i have to say. host: on facebook, i'm optimistic that trump policies will make america more secure, more safe and more prosperous. judy is in oklahoma on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. host: are you optimistic or pessimistic? caller: i am pessimistic and i hate to say that about my country but i am so afraid of the future of our congress. i just don't think that they can get together and agree on anything, and that is going to make it very tough for us who are out here in the real world. i'm worried about social security benefits. i'm worried about my investments, and i'm worried about the amount of taxes that

my husband and i have to pay at the end of each year. we are paying at least 30% of our income in taxes. that's not right. that needs to be fixed. so i guess that i'm very pessimistic. and i just don't understand how people could support someone who is such a crook. i just don't understand how people voted for him. so i guess i'm pessimistic. host: ok. hakeem jeffries spoke with reporters about messaging to those known as maga republicans and their tactics for passing legislation. >> what we have seen repeatedly amongst my extreme maga

republican colleagues as they say one thing to the american people before the election and then do something different after. the house republicans said that they were going to protect social security and medicare. so did their presidential nominee. now we learn after the election that house republicans are planning to try to cut medicare and social security and end it as we know it. house republicans said before the election that they were focused on improving the quality of life of working class americans. but after the election, their focus is on tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. for years until the selection, the incoming president elect said that we are going to build a wall and mexico will pay for it.

now after the election, house republicans are planning to use the budget reconciliation process to force everyday americans and hard-working taxpayers to pay for their so-called border wall. on the democratic side we all support a strong, safe, and secure border. we have a broken immigration system. we need to fix it. we need to enhance our border security. and we need to do it in a sensible, bipartisan way. democrats are prepared to do just that. host: back to your calls about whether you are optimistic or pessimistic for the year ahead in politics. pittsburg, california, tom, democratic line. caller: first of all, good morning, thank you for taking my call. happy new year. host: thank you.

caller: i don't like -- i always try to keep a positive outlook on stuff. but i'm pessimistic from the standpoint that we have already seen a preview of what's to come. the democrats and republicans sat down to work on a budget and all of a sudden within a month -- host: your line is sounding muffled. i'm wondering it if you could make sure you're speaking directly into your phone. caller: can you hear me now? host: a little bit better. go ahead. caller: elon musk, he didn't like what the budget was saying, so he gets on the media and tells republicans to tank it? [indiscernible] who are we dealing with? trump?

the house majority leader? or elon musk? i'm a veteran. that's part of why i'm pessimistic. the first time around, donald trump talked about getting out of nato. he doesn't realize that nato is a very important part of security for the world. especially in europe. that's the part that scares me. i just don't know how this is going to play out. i'm trying, but [indiscernible] host: sarah, manhattan beach, california, independent line, good morning. sarah, go ahead. are you optimistic or pessimistic? just make sure your tv is turned down. caller: sorry, i will turn it down. host: thank you. caller: i'm optimistic. i'm optimistic about the next year. absolutely.

i feel that we have a lot of things to work on, we have seen a lot of people show their true colors. i'm looking forward to the next year, trump showing that he wants to bring in a bunch of legal immigrants instead of illegal immigrants like the democrats got in. we've seen that musk is all about bringing in h-1b immigrants for all of his companies. we have seen the h-1b program, just last year. it has a statutory 80 5000 visas. 2024 they approved 900,000. so, i think that it's a great, we have a great opportunity here. we have seen that people are becoming more conscious,

becoming more race conscious and seeing the differences between us. the fact that we have done something for the country to stop it being a brown mass. so -- host: good morning, stephen. on the line for democrats. caller: i'm pessimistic because of what i see from trump and the republicans. he seems to be losing his mind, letting musk run unelected. the only thing that makes me optimistic is you had a better bench on the left. smarter people, maybe that keeps them in check for four years, but for the most part the republican party runs on anger, hate, resentment, grievance, they don't do anything good for the people, they just go to rip down the government. i guess that's my thing. happy new year. host: charlene, republican line,

new york. caller: i'm listening to all of this and i have to be honest with you, i am so optimistic. what i have seen in the last four years has been very disappointing. the democrats have been in power for a long time, so why haven't things been done? i haven't paid attention to politics until trump got in. i felt like we had prosperity. companies coming back to the united states. host: i want you to finish her point, but please turn down the volume on your television. caller: sure. [echo] but i feel optimistic. i feel that trump has great policies. i also feel like he didn't get a fair share when it came to his -- when they, when they had all of these targets against him.

i just, i just think that this country now is going to go in the right direction. i did not see it with the last four years. they spent billions on campaigns, but the people voted. more people need to come together in congress, democrats and republicans, to work for the american people. that's all we are asking for, our fair share, to work for us, not for your own agenda. host: thomas, wichita, kansas, good morning, democratic line. caller: how do you do? happy? host: thank. caller: i'm a democrat living in one of the most conservative states, kansas. democrats calling in our soap pessimistic it's pathetic. i'm optimistic. i believe in the system of checks and balances, for most of

which are we the people, the courts, and the congress. i want everyone to get on the merry-go-round and enjoy the ride with president trump. in four more years, if we are still living, we will see a new president. a young, handsome, tall brilliant man whose first name is gavin. he's started his campaign by raising the penalty for shoplifting in california from a misdemeanor to a felony and he started cleaning out the cities in california that look like big slum places. be prepared, gavin newsom will be the next president of the united states and four years. thank you for taking my call. host: alvin, calling from massachusetts. caller: good morning. i'm optimistic about the country

as a whole. as far as my government is concerned, they will straighten it out, america will survive if the people want it to survive. we could argue about trump. let country take -- trump take the country down to a low it's never been out before, but we will bring it back up. i'm a progressive. i will vote for a democrat or a republican, but neither one at this point deserve my vote. i will allow trump four years to show me why republicans actually care about america. democrats do, they just can't get their thing together. they just happen to follow rules and regulations. but america will survive. that's us. we've been surviving for years now and we will continue to survive as long as we keep the idiots in check.

trump, that other idiot, because he got money he thinks he knows something? he don't. we'll take our money back from him. let's take the money that elon musk uses for all of his adventures and put it back into the treasury. we don't need to support him, he's got enough money. host: speaking of elon musk, on x marielle says -- i'm optimistic, we can finally track wasteful government spending, making a reference to the proposed department of government efficiency. she says she loves it. stacy, bismarck, republican line, good morning. stacy? caller: i'm calling in to say i'm optimistic. we are, we currently are under a system of enslavement starting with the federal reserve, which isn't federal at all, it's a

private institution that charges us to use money and then to ensure that they get their interest payment on our money, they, they tax us with income tax. the country was not founded on the people being taxed. this is a form of enslavement, when a piece of you is taken away for you to work. i mean, think about it, it's ridiculous. to be taxed for your labor? it is taking a piece of you and enslaving you to pay these people for the privilege of working. the amendment, so trump is talking about taking away taxes on social security, on tips, even hinting at eliminating the entire income tax system, which is a form of enslavement of the american people. we rule, we don't take orders from other people. we are the ones who give the

orders. it's about time that we stop this. host: eloise on x says they are optimistic, saying republicans in the house and senate united have enough of an opportunity to get things done, and that the benefit of getting things done for the people is getting reelected. now, then, hill grove is in johnson, pennsylvania, democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning, happy new year. i'm pessimistic for the first two years of this administration. i'll be optimistic whenever the midterm elections occur and the democrats take over. i get sick and tired of people saying that nothing happened under biden. biden did more good things for this country than trump will ever do in eight years, believe me. the one thing i wanted to mention is -- back when he was

president, mario cuomo and chris christie, both governors of opposite parties agreed on building a tunnel, putting their amount of money involved into it. they asked for federal help from trump. trump promised them help and when it came down to push to shove, he denied them that help. that tunnel is being built by biden. it's a tunnel under the hudson river that will be built. trump will probably take credit for it when it's finished. that's the kind of guy he is. i tell you what, joe biden, the democrats will route the day. even if he would have lost, he should have had the opportunity to run for a second term. that's my comment, today. thank you. host: all right.

charlie, independent line, good morning. caller: happy new year. host: thank you. caller: i guess i have to say i'm cautiously optimistic, but very cautious and pretty apprehensive, to be honest. the country has a lot of problems ahead of us. you know, i look at trump and i think -- this guy is sort of like dennis the menace. he just can't say serious for more than a minute at a time. and then i look at the democrats , i look at [indiscernible] fine, if democrats are listening , they are lost. ok? grow up. you want to look at 14 years old? so are you and the rest of us. you know, we are looking at this

and wondering when oh when are you going to calm down, grow up, work together, and start in on the problems, the very real problems that this country has. before i go, i want to say one thing. i have cast right in votes for president in the last three elections. i am waiting for either party, either one of them, to offer us a candidate qualified for the office with intelligence, temperament, experience, and character. now, we haven't had one for quite a while. i will say one thing for the democrats, [indiscernible] host: your line is breaking up and we are out of time for this segment. thank you to everyone for calling in talking about whether they are optimistic or

pessimistic with your head in politics. for another look, we will be joined up next by chris lehmann, d.c. bureau chief of "the nation magazine," joining us for his political outlook after the break. we'll be right back. ♪ >> witness democracy in action with c-span, experience history as they unfold. republicans take control of both chambers of congress and a new chapter begins with a swearing in of the 47th president of the united states. friday, don't miss the opening day of the 119th congress. watch for the swearing in of new members of congress and senate in the first day of leadership for john thune as the new senate majority leader. monday, january 6, live from the house chamber witness as kamala harris presides over the vote where the historic session

officially confirms donald trump as the winner of the 2024 presidential election. january 20, tune in for live all-day coverage of the presidential inauguration as donald trump takes the oath of office and becomes the 47th president of the united states. stay with c-span through january for comprehensive, live coverage of the presidential inauguration. c-span, democracy unfiltered, created by cable. >> after becoming the longest-serving party leader in senate history, mitch mcconnell is stepping down from his leadership position this week. watch c-span tonight at 8 p.m. eastern as we explore his life and career. he shares his views on the importance of the senate after 17 years of leading his fellow republicans, his plans for his remaining years in office, and other topics. our guest for the program is the

deputy washington bureau chief for the associated press and author of the mcconnell biography, the price of power. join us for the legacy of mitch mcconnell, tonight on c-span. >> c-spanshop.org is the online c-span store. browse our latest collection of products, apparel, books, home decor, and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan. every purchase helps to support our nonprofit operation. shop now or any time at c-spanshop.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back for another look at what is ahead in politics in 2025. we are joined now by "the nation -- by chris lehmann, d.c.

bureau chief for "the nation." what would you say is behind the loss of kamala harris? caller: there's a short answer and host: a long answer. host:let's do both. [laughter] caller: ok. the short answer is the answer you get from a lot of inside people in the democratic party. you know, she had 100 days to ramp up a campaign. there was, you know, the biden administration was in deep trouble in terms of pulling its approval rating in perspective battleground states. but you know, i think, you know, there are that kind of, those kinds of reasons apply to almost any election. i think to really understand what happened in this particular election, you have to sort of

look at a longer-term history of where the democratic party has been going over the past 40 years. there has been a sort of deliberate tactical decision to move away from the concerns of, you know, we heard a lot about the white working class all throughout the first trump term. but i think there is a definite deficit. if you look at the actual election returns and swing states, you know, trump performed very well among that traditional, now traditional constituency for republicans. as well as making striking gains in the hispanic and african-american vote. so, i think there is a failure of the democratic party to really reckon with the larger changes taking place in our politics. my colleague at "the nation,"

arguing that the relevant divide is less left than -- left and right and more system and anti-system. republicans represent obviously the anti-system, barreling through norms and institutional constraints. democrats wind up as the party of the status quo. in an election cycle like this, where people were upset, angry, and seeking change, to run as a status quo, essentially reprising hillary clinton's 2016 message that america is already great, which is you know a way of saying to those voters you are sort of too dumb to know how good you have it. it's not a strong message. there is awful -- also a obvious meritocracy problem in the democratic party. how, to the shane of my

profession, we are only now learning the depths of biden's cognitive problems in the white house. there's a big "wall street journal" story about that. there was a pretty clear conspiracy of a cover-up of the signs of his decline. that, i think, is a very direct contributor. of the phenomenal issues i mentioned at the outset, they are all grounded in that fundamental failure to reckon with having an incumbent president who basically wasn't fit to run and increasingly seemed to lack the fitness to serve. host: you said the party has a problem with jared dr. c. -- with jared talk to see. can you explain what you mean by gerentocracy?

guest: it's sort of the rule of the elderly. in a seniority system that has long held sway in congress, there is a striking difference between the two parties on this issue as well. republicans basically have a three term senior committee leadership limit and you are out. democrats serve perpetually. one constant we have seen in elections is that control of congress remains very static because professional districts are gerrymandered and parties invest heavily in incumbents who are sure to win. you wind up in this situation with the democrats now on the house oversight committee, there was a battle between alexandria ocasio-cortez, who is the

progressive third term now congresswoman from the bronx, and gerry connolly, representative from virginia who is 74 years old and suffering from esophageal cancer. and you know, this fight came after -- well, this opening was created when congressman jamie raskin went -- she had been the ranking member on oversight. he challenged jerry nadler on the judiciary committee for that ranking member post and he won. this vacancy emerged. it was a moment where in my view the democratic leadership could have sent a strong signal that they are listening to the base of their party gerontocracy gerontocracy. they understand -- party. they understand the gerontocracy

issues not working at their level. simple optics, to have a woman, a younger woman in this position who is a charismatic leader of the progressive wing of the party would have been a smart choice. again, looking at it in terms of this system versus anti-system dynamic, if you are bringing in fresh blood, this is something republicans have successfully done going back to newt gingrich when he was speaker. they are very kind of ruthless in cannibalizing the congressional leadership. you know? people being kicked out because they are too far to the left? it's a different model. politics is often the art of copying the tactics of your enemies. the democrats should be looking at other opportunities to introduce new leadership, rather

than lapsing back into the gerontocracy status quo. host: you laid out these arguments in your piece in "the nation," saying "the squalid state of our institution paints 28 -- points to a failure of individuals in the system as a whole. -- as a whole." are you seeing any initiatives from the democratic party to address what you layout? guest: largely, no. i was hopeful when a because court has she would put in for the ranking member position on oversight. that was an opening. the hammer came down very quickly. you know, she lost that vote. it sends, again, a strong message within the party and to the people following these battles that the democratic

party remains sort of institutionally sclerotic and is not able to respond nimbly to mandates for change. after a big election like this, you have to take a very hard look at what you are doing wrong. the democratic party right now seems allergic to that. host: let's talk about trump and that incoming administration. you had another piece on this, movers and shakers in his orbit, who are you watching? host: there are -- guest: there are so many nominees attracting media speculation and their prospects for getting appointed in the senate. it's important always in an incoming administration to look at the kind of bureaucratic hardliners, those who would

impose discipline on the white house to carry forth an agenda. figures like stephen miller, a holdover from the earlier trump administration, who is very militant, hardline person on immigration, introduced the family separation policy, introduced the covid lockdown of the southern border. the trump -- trump campaigned on mass deportations to be carried out early in his presidency. this will be stephen miller's chief policy responsibility. he's a hard-core ideologue, you know? that's going to be important to watch. always, the chief of staff in an administration is an important think -- important figure. trump appointed his campaign chair, who comes out of florida

politics and is a very connected lobbying figure. i will say, when i wrote that piece for our print issue, we discussed including elon musk. i think we did not accurately assess the way, the dramatic way in which he fashioned -- fastened himself to trump at every turn. so, he is obviously a huge figure to watch. no one voted for elon musk. we just saw in the shutdown of a couple weeks ago, he took a leading role in provoking it and is now in the throes of what's being called a civil war in the maga movement, supporting h-1b visas, a bit of a complicated issue, silicon valley relies on

these foreign engineers to work on software. they have very strict, it's almost a form of indentured servitude. the people who get these visas are kind of enthralled to the companies that grab them. it's the way that silicon valley suppresses wages, which they do in a collusive manner. it's an interesting issue maga for the maga -- issue for the maga movement. jd vance in his speech said that they would stop the hemorrhaging of jobs to non-american workers. elon musk and vivek ramaswamy, both the heads of this new department of government efficiency, have said -- wait a minute, you know? our business model relies on these visas in we are going to

keep them. which sparked a huge uproar. host: we are going to get to your calls shortly. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents,. --(202) 748-8002. another one of your pieces, "the trump attack on the free press is just getting started, is win against abc news is an all out -- the beginning of an all-out maga war against media. what are some of your concerns? guest: they are more for places like what's happening at abc news, the washington post, where you are seeing this anticipatory obedience to trump even before taking office.

he abc case involved a comment made by george stephanopoulos on air saying that trump had been found liable for rape in the e. jean carroll case. the legal nuances are a bit complicated. the judge in the case said that the assault in the case did not meet the new york legal definition of rape. but by any common sense understanding of the term, it was rape. stephanopoulos was in essence pair of prizes -- paraphrasing the finding of the case. host: this is the case that a lot of people said if they had taken it to court, they would have had a very strong case. guest: in first amendment law it's very important to -- i generally am not a fan of slippery slope arguments, but this is one where they apply, i think.

there is a chilling effect when something like this happens and other media outlets are inevitably going to be much more guarded and offensive. that is not the role of the press. the press is supposed to hold public figures accountable and it is supposed to upset them. host: you mentioned "the post," "the times," and i'm guessing you are referencing the decision not to run endorsements last year? guest: in the case of "the los angeles times," it's on further, the publisher has issued a détente to the editorial section that every time they run a piece critical of trump, they have to run a supporting piece, which again is not how opinion journalism works. a lot of veteran editors on the opinion section quit over that call.

also introduced this bizarre sort of ai enabled feature that allows readers to track a bias in their own coverage, which is just bizarre and nonsensical to me. all journalists should treat readers as adults who can arrive at their own opinions and judgments. dissent is healthy. the whole idea that a publisher is trying to get under the hood and modulate reader responses is very troubling. it's important to note that the publisher of "the times," as well as jeff bezos's, they are both billionaires who hold extensive conflicts of interest arising from government contracts. so, you know, this is a real problem for journalists. host: let's get to your calls with your questions for our

guest, "the nation --chris lehmann. alex, please make sure to turn on your television. caller: how are you doing? host: go ahead. caller: can you work on with other journalists nationally, big picture, coming away from all the bias, right or left, pro-life or pro-choice, those kind of big issues? and then they say you are lying and you say they are lying. this seems to happen in politics and in journalism. it's one of the freedoms we have as a nation, and it's been about 77 years or something, maybe you all as journalists can straighten it out on your side,

places where you all are slamming each other. does that make sense? guest: i'm a very big supporter of robust debate and offense. i'm not normally on television. i talk extensively with journalists on the right. obviously, we have differences. i started off this segment being very critical of the democratic party. i don't think journalists carry water for any political party. our job is to tell the truth is to tell the truth as we see it. yeah, i absolutely agree. going back to first principles,

this is what we have first amendment the cultivation of an informed citizenry and democracy. by modeling debate and vigorous exchanges of views. host: sherwood, arkansas, lime for democrats. good morning, oris. caller: happy new year. he was asking them why did the democrats lose the presidency this year. it was all because of joe biden. i am a democrat. joe biden said that he was going to go and run just one time and do what he said he was going to do. if he had stepped down and gotten out of the way and let the democrats have a regular election, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now. 20% of the people weren't going

to vote for kamala harris anyway . that's why we lost out and that's why we are in the mess we are in. but we will come back. guest: i very much agree. as i was saying earlier, there was this effort to sort of cover up the biden condition. only to serve a single term. the idea that you would announce in april of 2023 that everything we are now learning about how things were being run in the white house is a scandal. the democratic party needs to own up to that. the democratic party needs to clean house. guest: and there wasn't even a primary process? guest: yes, this was a very accelerated process.

you know, we can debate -- there are some ways in which a shorter presidential election is good. there's less attack ads and vitriol flowing over a shorter amount of time. there isn't the scrutiny from competition from other candidates. in 2020, when harris was one of the first candidates to drop out of that race, the democratic party wound up in this position as the caller said to because of the joe biden vanity. host: and there wasn't a competitive primary leading up to that nomination, i should clarify. tom, good morning. caller: good morning.

happy new year to you. thank you for your commentary on the h-1b matter. when we enacted the provisions in january of 2021 to repatriate the process of making chips in the united states. to do so by educating and the workers in sections of that law in which we had very specific environments that we did to the exclusion of h-1b's so that we would have the ability to have resilience in the united states. more on supply and manpower. congratulations for your analysis of that. i hope in the administration we

will correct those mistakes, providing all of those benefits of the training money that was contained in that law to construction workers. not to operators of fads or manufactured pass components that go into the macro electronic systems that we use. chris, are you chris and maureen's son? guest: caller: i am not. caller:you are different. i was going to ask your parents -- i was going to ask you to wish her parents well. host: i want to follow up on the h-1b story that you and the caller referenced. the hill has a story talking about how musk has called some maga supporters contemptible fools as this intensifies.

it's an online debate around visas for highly skilled workers on the right that intensifies, a trump world civil war intensifying this week. as musk and ramaswamy have found themselves on the opposite end of the debate. guest: it's an interesting dynamic. the trump campaign has always been about sort of, you know, and america first agenda in our economy. in my view these are harsh and unwarranted immigration restrictions. you know, it's a very big problem for the republican party that you have people like musk and ramaswamy, who are again,

once more, they are both billionaires. elon musk is in fact the richest man in the world, worth $400 billion now? sort of taking this stand that runs against what people who supported trump thought they were voting for out of their own economic interests. you know, i think, it pains me to say this, but we are at a point where we have to start looking at american power as an oligarchy, much like what took shape after the collapse of the soviet union, when there was this unregulated economy and people just amassed massive wealth and wound up basically hiring on the government to do their bidding. that is kind of where we are now. host: james, hyattsville, maryland, good morning. caller: real quick, just got a

couple of points. there's a small group of us, c-span watchers who call ourselves the crazy 88's. kimberly, you are doing better than people who express themselves with cutting them off. it's up in the air on who is the most controversial host right now on c-span. number one, does trump lie and exaggerate? absolutely. why did kamala harris lose the election? one of the biggest lies she told , she said her parents were black. her dad is irish and you, who admitted himself that he has no african ancestors. so, how is she black?

the lawsuit against abc, george stephanopoulos, he lied when he interviewed the representative to say that trump was guilty of rape. any of the platforms, if you just tell the truth, you don't have to worry about a lawsuit. you don't have to walk on egg shells. just report the truth and it will be fine. last point, kimberly, is there truth to the fact that the new ceo, tim feist, who has been at cnn for over 30 years, long as i've been alive, is it true that he's complicating -- contemplating removing the caller aspect from "washington journal," is that true? host: i haven't heard anything about that. to respond to the other points

that you made, saying kamala harris wasn't black, do you have any response to that at all? guest: not really. she went to howard university. i think, regardless of how you debate her genetic heritage, we have a culture in which she experienced, or lived experiences black. i don't see any reason to dispute that. host: before you respond to his point about media organizations not needing to worry about lawsuits for telling the truth, discussed the fact that trump has continued to say that he does plan to go after the media. last month he held a press conference at mar-a-lago and discussed some of the lawsuits he has already filed and his rationale. listen to [video clip] a clip of [video clip] that. >> there is one from "60

minutes," where they took her horrible answer, kamala's hole answer, they took it out and replaced it with something else she said later in the interview, which wasn't great, but it wasn't like the first one. the first one was grossly incompetent, weird. that was fraud and election interference by a newsmagazine. a big part of cbs news. we have been involved with one that has been going on for a while, successfully, against bob woodward, where he didn't quote me properly from the tapes. on top of everything else, he sold the tapes, which she wasn't allowed to do. he could only use them to report, not sell, and he admits that and we will be successful on that one. we have one very interesting on pulitzer. reporters at "the new york times" got pulitzer prizes for

their wonderful, accurate, highly professional reporting on the russia hoax. it turned out to be a hoax. they were exactly wrong. people, like many people, john solomon, sean hannity, got it right. many people got it right. tucker got it right. laura got it right. janine got it right. a lot of people. got it right. didn't get anything. they gave it to reporters who got it wrong. everyone admits it was a hoax. i want them to get back, take back the prizes. big damages. we are doing well on that one. they have no excuse for it. they gave a price to writers who got russia wrong. i think we are doing well. i feel i have to do this. i shouldn't really be the one to do it. it should have been somebody else. justice department? i have to do it. costs a lot of money.

we have to straighten out the press. the press is very corrupt. almost as corrupt as our elections. host: any thoughts? guest: well, this is a long-standing pattern of trump before he entered politics officially. he would sue anyone who published something he didn't like. he sued abrupt -- he sued a biographer for publishing that trump was not a billionaire. the writer supported that claim with research and documentation and in his deposition in that case, trump said that he was a billionaire because he felt like a billionaire. this is a classic trump tactic to try to intimidate people.

many of the plan tapes are not as wealthy as trump is. it is a form of harassment by frivolous litigation. he went after the poster for publishing a whole prior to the election showing that kamala harris was playing in iowa. he felt that election interference. even though he won there by 15 points. i don't know what the harm is. he's alleging that it's a faulty pole. you can debate the russia coverage, but there were close contacts between the trump campaign and russian actors in 2016. revoking a pulitzer prize, it is

the committee's own judgment. it could be wrong, but yeah, it's harassment. host: richard, maryland, on the line for democrats, good morning. caller: good morning to you both. you highlighted aoc and mr. connelly. equally appalling to me was debbie dingell, who could have brought fresh new ideas the democratic party. on the upside as well. lastly, secondly, to the caller, crazy 88 is aptly named. moving forward, the swagger that mr. musk is exhibiting, it shows -- i think -- this is out of -- out of the conspiracy column, he has such arrogance, it's like

trump has made some sort of faustian deal with musk in order to bring forth the victory in the election. i've never seen an unelected guy have the arrogance to throw himself in the discussions that he did. i don't think the whole story is out yet. it's beyond the pale, in my humble gift -- guess. i love your magazine. it's been many years. i'm 73. not as available as i used to be , back in the day, but thank you so much, sir, for your continued work, and kim, you are doing a wonderful job. guest: thank you for the kind words. without speculating about musk,

what we know about his relationship to the trump campaign is that he spent 250 million dollars in super pac money to get trump elected. that doesn't meet the formal definition of a conspiracy under citizens united, where we basically don't regulate money in politics anymore. but the hole that he has over what trump is his money, money is what trump respects over all else. musk has more of it than anyone else in the world. host: wayne, virginia beach, virginia, independent line, good morning. caller: thanks for having me. happy new year to everybody. my observation from sitting on the fence is the vanity, the hubris, the arrogance.

the democrats arrogance. this relates to what americans have seen and absorbed over the last, i don't know, 15 years. 14 million criminals across our borders. phony impeachments. fake rape cases. assassination attempt's. russia, ukraine, that never would have happened under trump. pp tapes. destroying evidence of the irs. hillary. guns. the mexican cartels. obama. it doesn't matter what your color are, is, you seem to come i don't know, be fixated on that . has nothing to do with that. i could go on and on. yes, some americans do want these criminals punished.

i think your guest is sitting there giggling and hasn't a clue either. host: giggling about what? not sure what you are referencing. guest: guess we lost them. well, that was sweeping. you know, i think i'll just leave that. host: lakeland, florida, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, thanks for c-span. i want the liberal press to get as many psychologists and psychiatrists to explain why these people voted for a convicted felon and an insurrection is to destroy the government, the democracy. there's a famous book by a harvard professor where they explain trump, but there needs to be a book with psychologists

explaining the voters. david brooks said these people want to dismantle these institutions, but why? what is happening in our culture and society? i think people are overwhelmed by modern technology. could i ask you to commit to having many different, in your publication, having as many different psychologists and psychologists trying to explain? there's many different categories. host: we are just about out of time for this segment, but i think i understand your question, you want mental health professionals to explore the trump support. guest: well, i think that there is an extra rational sort of dimension to the maga movement. i don't know that it is something i would pathology eyes.

what's complicated by all of this is there are legitimate grievances about the direction of our political economy and the direction of our government that are, you know, i think the trump movement is a symptom. i don't know that there is a sort of simple, straightforward psychological diagnosis that would explain it all. there are series about how the authoritarian personality works and how authoritarian movements attract followings based on other than rational and political factors. i think that one has to sort of proceed with nuance in taking up

a psychological explanation. host: in the last minutes we have left, i wanted to get your thoughts on the passing of jimmy carter. guest: he's a very influential figure. his presidency has been in some ways underestimated. his domestic legacy was actually critical in creating what we now call neoliberalism. that deregulatory approach to the economy, he took enormous strides to deregulate the trucking industry, airlines, finance. in many ways we are in the long-term aftermath of those policy calls. there'll people who would argue that we wouldn't have a trump

presidency without the sort of right-leaning revolution within the democratic party that jimmy carter helped to inaugurate. he did have a post presidency that was exemplary, he was especially brave and calling out the injustice about palestine aa time when it was far from fashionable. host: he wrote a book called "peace not apartheid," which was controversial at the time. guest: it cost him a speaking gig at the 2008 election.really do appreciate host: chris lehmann, -- host: chris lehmann, really do appreciate your time this morning. guest: thank you. host: thank you to everybody who shared your calls and questions this morning. we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern. happy new year, everyone.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

>> www.c-span.org. >> witness democracy in action with c-span, experience history with love coverage this january as republicans take control of congress and a new chapter begins with the swearing-in of the 47th president of the u.s. watch the election of the house speaker, swearing-in of new members and john thune the new senate majority leader. witness vice president harris preside over the certification of the electoral college, which will officially confirm donald trump as the winner of the 2024

presidential election. january 20, tune in for the presidential inauguration as donald trump becomes the 47th president of the u.s. stay with c-span for unfiltered coverage of the 119th congress and presidential inauguration, c-span, democracy unfiltered, created by cable. >> jimmy carter died at 100. here are events and services that will lead up to his burial. saturday, a motorcade will go to atlanta then on to the family home. sunday monday, the former president will lie in repose at the carter center in atlanta. tuesday, the u.s. capitol in washington dc where the former president will lie in state at the capitol rotunda. the public will pay respects at

7:00 tuesday evening. president carter will lie in state wednesday before being transported thursday to the washington cathedral for funeral services. then he will take his last trip home to be buried in georgia at the carter family home. we will stream online at www.c-span.org, on the c-span networks and on the free video app. ♪ >> your unfiltered view of government, c-span is funded by these tv companies and more including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? it is way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with community centers so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these providers giving you a front row seat to democracy.