again we are going to try to get you all as much information as possible so any additional information will be put out through press releases. thank you very much. >> we will continue to bring you updates on the c-span networks and bring you back now to washington journal in progress. he independent or the democratic party, and the chance for a realignment will have gone away. host: some of the concerns you could be referring to here vs. the things you ran on? guest: there's no interest in the sorts of things that chip roy wants to do. that is not what donald trump ran on, that is not what the american people want. if donald trump is going to pursue a chip roy strategy to

the federal budget, he will throw away his advantage. there is no interest in fighting a religious conservative culture war. protecting liberty, yes. fighting against things like transgender issues, yes. fighting a religious culture war to reestablish traditional christianity at the social norm in the country? which is something favored on the right, but no. if you want to walk down those pants, you are going to throw away your chance for a center-right political realignment. host: how important is tomorrow's speaker vote to donald trump keeping this realignment? guest: you have to have a successful presidency and that means you have to have control of congress. if the speaker vote, whether johnson wins or not, ends up with the same sort of mess that we've had for the last few years, where there is no republican majority that can push things through, that

impedes trump's ability to succeed. so if republicans want every alignment where over time they will move the country to the right, they should stop fighting and start talking. and that means a noncontroversial reelection. whether johnson is the perfect person or not, because the long-term interests of the party dictate a successful first-term, and that means fighting together, not with each other. host: henry also with us until 9:30 eastern. we'll go ahead and get your calls in. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. what do you make about this interparty battle over h-1b right now in the republican party? guest: there's a lot of tension within the coalition, as there always is. abraham lincoln created the republican party. he combined people who were

immigrant and anti-immigrant into one party. the german immigrants had to be in the same party. so there's always tension within a party. but what we know from other countries is that if you're going to create a working-class party which is what donald trump is doing, you have to lean into that realignment, which means that whether it is h-1b visas or not, you have to have a much more restrictive immigration policy than what you had before. the old guard, a libertarian guard, he has to be even tougher on the other aspects, because the new voters he got our working-class voters who want action on their issues, and that includes shutting down the border, having a tight labor market, and real growing wages for the lower middle class and middle class, and you can't do that with a loose immigration policy. host: are there other places where you see realignment

possible that was squandered? guest: newt gingrich in 1994. bill clinton also ran has a uniter, not a divider. most notably what was called clinton care at the time, which was that era version of dramatic federal government expansion in health care. he also pushed increased taxes including energy tax that would have hit everybody. and what happened was that republicans in party alignment past the democrats for the first time. even reagan hadn't been able to do that. and then gingrich takes him and immediately moves to start cutting the budget, which is not what those former democrats who gave him a chance wanted, but yet in 1995 the democrats have their partisan advantage again, and the chance for a mid-1990's realignment is thrown away. host: two realignments happen

more often these days, or the possibility of realignments, than in the past? i'm thinking back to a very long time in which democrats controlled both the house and senate. guest: typically realignments for whatever reason tended to happen on a 40 year cycle. it used to be almost exactly 36 years. and what we have been overdue for another realignment for quite some time, meaning that the old questions that drove the old party allegiances have faded. the new questions of the new party allegiance become more crucial, and neither party has taken advantage of it. and what we've seen is growing numbers of people who say they are independent, growing numbers of people who say they miss trust institutions. what they want is every alignment. what they want is both parties to stop fighting the base wars and start answering the new questionsthe first party that dt will have the realignment.

biden chose to governor moore from the base. his party lost. trump has a new historic possibility to answer questions and he can get his party a multi-decade hand. host: henry olsen. his podcast is "beyond the polls." c-span viewers are familiar with him. in georgia, republican. caller: good morning. i am grateful for the speaker this morning, because he has gotten down to the basics common sense. i have a question. before i ask it, i have a concerned about given inch, take a mile. the old adage. we have been watching the current administration give everybody an engine they take 10,000 miles -- take an inch

and they take 10,000 miles. with this change coming from the democratics active in the government to a more republican view, what will this do to the more progressive agenda? we have had the progressives ruling us for over 100 years now. do you feel that is going to be fixed? guest: thank you very much. what we will see if republicans are successful is establishing a new default definition of what it means to be american. what it means. the relationship between the state and the individual. it will be much more accommodative, helping people who need it and not helping people who don't. you will have a state-driven system. a lot of people who get

government protection or government subsidies you don't need it -- you look at the billionaires getting getting a housing mortgage deduction. they don't need a tax cut to afford a house. big universities with 55 billion dollars endowment to get taxed at the rate of 1%. warren buffett said he would think a secretary should pay a higher rate than he does. he pays 10 times greater rate than harvard but he has the same amount of wealth. why is that? a republican-led solution will start to chip away at that sort of thing. it is not going to throw away the new deal. americans want an extensive government social safety net and protection. they don't want a cocoon or blanket that suffocates them or gives money to people who don't need it. the republican direction will chip away at that excess and return that to the average

person. that is one way what has happened in the last 100 years will not be eliminated, because americans want a lot of what has happened over the last 100 years. you will stop seeing the progressive state-first government always solution being the answer. you will look to does somebody need help? they will get it. host: edward in dover, democrat. caller: how do you respond to people who call on c-span, for example today, and say donald trump is the greatest president in american history since george washington? how do you respond to that kind of ignorance? [video] i would -- guest: i would call it exuberant. from some of his fans, they are a little exuberant in their support. it is difficult to say donald trump has had a more impactful

presidency than the men who founded our country, than the man who saved it during the civil war and so forth. i would call it exuberance rather than ignorance. if a fan calls in and asked me how you can you say that, i will respond to the question directly. host: do you have a ranking of your top three or four presidents? guest: the top three or four most impactful presidents are the people who created realignments. they solved the major political questions of our day. thomas jefferson, george washington, abraham lincoln, franklin roosevelt, ronald reagan. they are the five presidents who have ever had significant realignment. anyone who looks at them and said they changed the direction of the country. host: felix in maryland, democrat. go ahead. caller: hi. i hear your back rent is research as a senior fellow.

i wanted your input on policy changes for realignments, especially regarding immigration. with stricter immigration it sounds like the country will be heading to in my profession in accounting, they changed the american institute of certified public accountants to the association of international certified public accountants. from a macro perspective we are seeing this realignment with licensor offered overseas. i was curious how you would -- how you feel about that. guest: immigration is clearly tied with trade which is tied with off shoring and the ability to not manufacture goods but manufacture ideas overseas, which is the sort of thing an accountant would do. donald trump -- a lot of

republicans were talking about immigration in 2016. only donald trump entered necessary connection of immigration and trade. you cannot be free-trade with goods and ideas and anti-immigration. you have to be both or neither. what you will see as trump understands that is you will see attempts to make sure trade in ideas and goods only happens when americans are already assured of rising job opportunities up and down the educational spectrum and rising real income up and down the income spectrum. that will be a change in economic thought. a direct assault on post-1984 and post-1989 global consensus. if it is successful, it will produce a prosperous and socially cohesive america. host: the caller mentioned your day job. explain what eppc is.

guest: it's a think tank, a unique washington institution will remake recommendations and arguments to policymakers and thought leaders. we have a judeo-christian perspective, one informed by the anthropology of the whole human person. we think there is a body and a soul. not just looking at material concerns. get my expertise -- my expertise is policy and opinion and how that shapes policy that can be considered and adopted. host: beyond the polls? guest: what i usually talk about is elections. trying to dig really deep to the person who like to look at crosstabs and precinct returns and understand methodology. host: we have several that do. guest: then this is the podcast for you. i will be looking at the interparty fights. we talked about the visas.

i will have republicans talking about the new party, and democrats talking about which direction should the democrats go. i will be covering international election starting with germany on february 23. host: anywhere you get your podcasts you can get "beyond the polls." host: houston, texas. independent. caller: good morning. i have not heard any specific i disagree with. i called on the independent line. i hope you are right and everything you said. the insanity we live under in this country each day has got to stop. it has got to stop. the government -- something in the government, whether it is the deep state or the corporate interests is bent on ruining this country. this is ely country we have.

-- only country we have. i turned on the tv yesterday and i see the insanity of this man. what is going on in this country? what is happening to america? this is a wealthy, powerful country. there's no reason for americans to live this way. host: henry olson. guest: the choleric stressed the concern that is driving the realignment. this is an economy that no longer works for everybody. a social culture war that has been going on that makes millions, tens of millions of americans feel like they are strangers in their homeland. increasingly we feel unsafe, whether it is in the new york subway because somebody throws somebody under the bus or likes them on fire, or unsafe industries because somebody makes a right turn onto bourbon street and plows them down. that is the questions people want solved. they don't want the base

concerns solved. they don't want ideological concerns solved at the expense of their concerns. that is what donald trump was elected for. host: the editorial board of the wall street journal, we have it somewhere. donald trump said syria should not be the united states' ,problem in the wake of the terror attack -- united states' problem. in the wake of the terror attack there is the question of we should have bases in the middle east to keep terrorism from forming individually coming overseas. we need to rethink this and possibly have that foothold in syria and think about other countries as well. guest: the question i will post to the wall street journal editorial board through you, what size of the american

military do we need to do that? america make commitments during the cold war that was undergirded by defense spending between 6% and 12%. more in the 1950's and last in the 1980's. -- less in the 1980's. what size military do we need it for going to have bases in syria and a robust presence in europe and bases and military forces in africa to fight the terrorists there and a four second fight iran and -- force that can fight iran? to say we have these actions without specifying the ability to fulfill all of these desires is -- if they want to advocate for these things, they should be responsible and tell

us what the means are necessary. nobody does that. with donald trump points out in many people he appointed to positions is we don't have a military that can afford bases in syria and bases in africa and nato like 1985 and face china's rise and have two carrier stations in the indian ocean -- stationed in the indian ocean at all times. we don't have that military. if you want to do with the editorial board does, they should tell us what it is going to cost. they should have the sort of public opinion mobilization they employ for things like lower taxes towards defense spending increases so the ends hit the means because now they don't. when donald trump says syria is not a problem, it doesn't mean that syria is something he should never take a call about. did means it is not worth the

expenditure of american troops and american money that are better deployed elsewhere. the wall street journal and their allies think differently and they should tell us what we need to fight their battles. host: fort lauderdale, florida. this is melvin on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i want to start off with the opinion about reagan being a top five. everyone wants to forget that reagan tripled the debt and the deficit in his eight years in office. he did away with a lot of expenditures the regular homeowner was using at that time for tax purposes. now we will get to trump. he also spent twice as much as any president in eight years has spent -- he spent that much in four years. he was talk about changes to the administration.

yes, he did. george bush had taken the country to the second worst financial disaster in the history of the country. therefore businesses were going bankrupt and a lot of other places with the information they came up in the meeting hammond john mccain -- ham and john mccain had to attend before the situation was finalized. he's try to say obama did not keep up with his initial promises. no. he had to change it. lucky he got in when he did because a lot of these other programs or companies would have been out of business. he took a lot of flak from helping the financial disaster -- financial banks and the automobile dealerships. let me answer this question. i'm trying to hear this ranking -- tired of hearing this reagan stuff and he tripled the debt. guest: what i was trying to say was the impact they had on

america. if a republican called in and said what you talk about with fdr? he changed the direction of the country. he increased the power of the state. some would say he threw away america. no one can deny his impact. america was a different place and that is what i was trying to say with reagan. i happen to like reagan. i understand many callers don't like reagan. the fact that he is so agitated about it demonstrates again reagan's impact. no one is agitated about gerald ford, with all due respect to a decent man. when you look at obama, no one would say obamacare -- at the time he said health care is economic care -- the collapse of the economy, the financial problems and so forth were addressed by obamacare. none of them.

that was the american recovery act. that was things like dodd frank. that was things like the implicit or explicit bailouts through loose monetary policy of a financial institution. obama stuck to that, he might have gotten his realignment. but he didn't. that is the point and wanted to make. he had to adopt a number of policies to help stabilize the global economy. there's an article that i quoted in my reagan book that timothy geithner, the treasury secretary said. that he will be judged by avoiding a second great depression. obama supposedly said that is not good enough. well, he got what he wanted but he threw away the democrats' change for a multi-decade realignment in the process. host: next week we will see him

lie in state of the capitol. guest: jimmy carter was a decent man who was a poor president. i can't say he was a poor politician. he pioneered the modern presidential campaign model. before jimmy carter you did not start your campaign two years before the convention. we did not hang out in iowa trying to win the caucuses. he changed american politics. he got himself elected at a time in 1975 you had washington journal then, only the nerdiest of nerds would have known who he was, yet he was the president a few years later. on jimmy carter's watch the soviet union, which was a serious power, was expanding. on employment was high. inflation was growing -- unemployment was high. energy prices were going through the roof. nobody under the age of 50 remember's this anymore.

we had such a shortage of gasoline that you had to park in line for hours just to fill up your tank. americans saw this as a failure. i have not even mentioned iran hostage crisis, and unbelievable humiliation of -- an unbelievable humiliation of the greatest nation on earth. it set the stage for ronald reagan because he successfully answered all those questions. he answer the problems and solve the problems jimmy carter exacerbated and helped create. he's an incredibly decent man, well-intentioned, good to great politician but poor president. host: you missed the opportunity to say the title. "ronald reagan and the return of the blue-collar conservativism." henry olsen with that book in 2017. guest: available on amazon. host: ted in new hampshire,

republican. caller: good morning. my thing on the way these presidents get elected, especially this past one when trump and kamala harris were running is all the bickering and all this attack ads on tv -- these attack ads on tv. these people are setting examples for our children. they jam mailboxes with all kinds of junk mail. every five seconds on tv they bash. what are the voter and people supposed to be expect from these people who want to run the country when they have this kind of ad? you talk about in the world all the hatred. you are seeing it right on tv and they can stop this and work together and really focus on the policies, this country would be

far better off. he's going to be awful angry at you and not pay attention. you may see that at the polls. host: henry olsen. guest: negative advertising and attacking often annoys and bothers people. but people do it because it is effective. particularly in a bipartisan system. if we had a system like many european countries where you get the number of seats, you get the share of the vote, there's a lot less negativity. if a attacks b, voters might go to c. that is why you see less negativity until it gets to the end. you don't over the voters are going to go -- know where the voters are going to go. this is part of politics. if you look at the famous speech

in lincoln's career, the house divided speech, the one that arguably set him on the course for the presidency. if you read that speech, what you find is he was accusing the current president, the past president, the prospective nominee of the democratic party, his opponent stephen douglas and the chief justice of the supreme court of a conscious conspiracy to bring slavery to the north. there's nothing anybody said in the last election on an attack ad that is more negative than what abraham lincoln accused those people of doing in the house divided speech. this is part of politics. host: how do you feel about rank-choice voting? guest: i don't think it is a panacea. i don't support multi-candidate general elections. some right to ei -- some right choice -- right choice --

rank choice has a top four. the top two go on and that you have another election. rank choice voting we get rid of the need for runoff. in a general election where you have gone to the primary process, i would have no problem with rank choice voting. if people wanted to cast a second vote, i'd rather have x but i don't between y and z, i will choose z. it will not solve the problems rank choice voting advocates say it will solve. host: less than 10 minutes left with henry olsen. linda in massachusetts. caller: good morning. i live in a liberal state, massachusetts. i'm a retired teacher. i have been listening to what you are saying about past things in the country that had a big impact like the gasoline

lines, the vietnam war, all the things that happened over the years that i have been alive. i have never seen the country as divided as we are now. we are losing family members, friendships, relationships to the division of politics. it is not just politics any longer. what do you think about the chance or possibility of perhaps becoming two different countries or three different countries? i don't see peace being possible. guest: that is something people talk about. if the country is too divided, maybe different halfs should go their own way. what that would require is a general acceptance of both sides, which is to say you will have a red america and blue america, or blue americas or red americas. i think that is highly unlikely.

we have a 200 something your history of -- year history of getting along. i study history. this sort of battle we have now are often solved by separation. two sides go their own way, or victory. one side wins and suppresses the other, which is really hard in the democratic system. some type of federalism where you have a weak central government and strong regional governments you can basically live on euro. o -- live on your own. or, the creation of a new idea that unifies people. i think that is what americans want. they want beyond red and blue ticket to red white and blue -- red, white and blue. the party leaders

continually failed to do that. instead of building a new coalition that answers new questions with new solutions, they keep fighting old wars with old solutions and that makes the battles harder. that is trump's opportunity. if trump does not do that, he will have a failed first-term. more people will be independent. americans are looking for that person. if they can't find it in the two party system, they will form a third party. we are not there yet. host: be a trumper or something else on the road, what is the new idea americans want to build on? what is that thing that unites? [video] -- guest: leaf and innate human dignity that comes of our declaration of independence. we believe in certain truths that all men are created equal. that is the first truth the declaration starts. the division is over people

saying you are not treating me equally if you're outsourcing my job and importing labor because you don't care about me as an american. you are not treating me equally if i'm a nontraditional person who does not want to live according to 1950's morality. on the other side, you are not treating me equally if you try to take away my children or suppress my ability to talk because i want to live that way. host: libertarianism then? guest: no. americans will a limited but active federal government that steps in to remove barriers that they cannot handle on their own. then they want it to get out of the way. this is the problem of both parties. americans want to what they have always wanted, a limited but

effective government that removes barriers to them living dignified lives and then they want to get on with their life. when they get that, the divisions will cease to be as violent, cease to be as intense, and will go back. there will be sharp opinions and politics but they will not be divisive in the way today's are. i think we are moving in that direction. it may take us a while to get there. host: a bunch of callers have been waiting,. joseph in florida, republican. thanks for waiting. caller: thank you. i have one question. i am 80 years old. i have lived just about all that 100 years you have been talking about. i'm from the south. i was raised in the southern baptist belt. as i go through life i have seen a change dramatically. the standards have dropped.

my main question is, why does the government divide the country like it has? the christianity standard and the other standard that is trying to invade our children and every thing else. you said there was a medium somewhere. us people, we don't see a medium. i was a democrat for 50 years. i carried a union card for 60 years. i have always voted democrat. but the standards have dropped so low that the southerners, and you have checked it, we have changed our minds about the standards we have to live with. how do you solve that problem? guest: that is one of the great problems america faces.

what you have to recognize is that americans are not uniformly christian anymore. the median voter in america is a person who says they are christian but also says they never go to services. that is a different country than one that says they are christian but attend services relatively frequently, which is where we were in the 1950's. a modern american morality has to reflect that. it does not mean that you need to have a world that often times christians find progressives adopting, which is we are going to disregard your beliefs and force you and a public professions of faith about things that you find contrary to your religion. it does not mean contrary, which as we can return to the 1950's. we can't. public opinion that undergirded the 1950's is not there.

it is interesting the gentleman talking about being a democrat and holding eight union card. -- a union card. that's another thing we have to recognize. we want the very goldwater government. my bookcase lanes have reagan was an interpreter of franklin roosevelt, not his goldwateresque opponent. if we undersell americans are created equal and progressives and christians have rights, a conscious, an action, they are not an enemy. just a different type of american. understand the government has a role in protecting all of those rights, economic and social,

that is where americans are. that is the median ground. that is where donald trump is getting to and where jd vance is. if they can have a successful first-term, you will see that more clearly by the end of the term then you can now. host: can we take chris who has been waiting for a while? new mexico, democrat. caller: good morning. i have been absolutely appalled by the anti-immigrant rhetoric on the part of mr. trump and people like steve bannon and stephen miller. i was a postwar kid. i got information about what happened in germany before and during world war ii. i see extremely close parallels between anti-immigrant -- especially undocumented immigrant propaganda and what germany was doing to the jews.

is that consistent with the judeo-christian traditions in america? this kind of demonization, dehumanization and scapegoating? guest: there are many people who agree with the caller. it is one of the big dividing lines between partisan democrats and the center of america. what we have to recognize is that over the last few years the influx of illegal immigrants, with a gentleman and people on the democratic party call undocumented immigrants, has change public opinion. -- changed public opinion. exit polls have asked the question, do you favor a pathway of citizenship or deportation? it was about three to one and favor to pathway to citizenship. now it is 60-40. when donald trump left office a

firm majority were opposed to his idea of building a wall. now a majority favorite. what you -- favor it. americans are not anti-immigrant but they want the laws respected and they want the number of immigrants admitted to this country to be done according to american interests, american decisions and through the legal process. donald trump is saying more of that that he did when he started. i think that is where he is moving towards. when he says i went immigrants but i want them legally, he favors h-1b visas, that is where he is moving towards. i do not see parallels between what donald trump is doing and what the american people want with the rampant anti-semitism and murderous intention of the

nazis. i think that is a gross inaccuracy against trump and the people who sincerely want to protect american interests and american nationality. host: henry olsen, his podcast is "be the polls," available where you get your podcasts. always appreciate your time. guest: thanks for having me. host: 25 in his left. we will be to -- 25 minutes left. we will be taking your phone calls on any issue you want to talk about. we put the numbers on the screen. start calling in and we will get to those calls right after the break. ♪ >> c-span now is a free mobile

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on saturday, here inaugural speeches by president john kennedy in 1961. >> asked not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. >> president lyndon johnson in 1965. >> i will lead and i will do the best i can. >> and president richard nixon in 1969. >> our will can be transferred from the destruction of were brought to the urgent needs of our people at home. >> watch historic inaugural speeches saturdays at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span2. >> washington journal continues. host: here is where we are on washington journal. about 25 minutes left for open forum. kenny political issue you want to talk about, now is your time to call in. a note that today at noon on c-span2 they will be a brief senate pro forma session.

there will be -- that will be one of the final ones of the 118th congress. they will commit just before noon to end the congress. at noon eastern time in the house and senate, the start of the 119th congress. we will be with you all morning long on the washington journal leading up to the beginning of the 119th congress. we will take your phone calls about the new congress, the issues, the road ahead. i hope you join us for that. sometime this morning for you to call in for any public policy or issue you want. ben at of connecticut, independent. -- out of connecticut, independent. caller: happy new year to all. my question was the people voting for trump where wearing these hats called make america great again.

in my. opinion, america has been great all the time. what they should replace it with his, make americans great again. it is the 49 point percent of people who voted for -- 49 .9% of people who voted for donald trump, and we all know his resume. he is the one who has managed to get is from a democracy to a catastrophe. basically, we are now in a situation when we are no longer democratic. we are being dictated by the richest of the world and all the millionaires who are in his cabinet. thank you. host: this is steve out of illinois. good morning. caller: good morning, jon. happy new year.

host: same to you. caller: i would think that yesterday's terrorist attack might have been prevented had the police put a vehicle on that sidewalk instead of leaving a space for that truck to do it did. -- to do what it did. it is deplorable they did not have better security there. i know everybody it is a terrorist attack. the police said it is pure evil. i would like to state a bible passage. isaiah 45:7. "i form the light and create darkness. i make peace and create evil. i the lord do all these things." if you are wondering how this happened, god made it happen. have a great day. host: a story in the washington

post today on how that truck got onto bourbon street. a key piece of the protective infrastructure on that street was undergoing repairs in new orleans when the driver slammed into the crowd. new year's revelers -- crowd of new year's revelers. new orleans again to install new farriers in february -- barriers in february. they often lined the parameters of public plazas and spaces. their mental block -- they are meant to block vehicles from accessing those buildings. a story on that aspect of this attack from today's washington post. dan in cuyahoga falls, ohio. independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. my opinion, until he gets rid of

citizens united -- we'll return that. unleaded -- unlimited money in politics will keep of the biggest war, the war on poverty, or the war against poverty so they can promote corporate welfare. socialism is ok in our country for corporations but they don't want any handouts for people. as long as money is in there they will control the strings of what is going on and our politicians are for sale. thank you and have a great day. host: this is greg in california, republican. open forum. caller: i wanted to ask your guest -- he said he does not see similarities between hitler and trump. i was wondering how he would

respond to his propaganda and statements such as people are eating cats, being that is not a truth. his statements about goldstar families. other statements that he could shoot somebody on 5th street in new york and would not lose a voter. how he would respond to that. host: that is greg in california. our guest henry olsen is no longer with us. he will probably back down the road. this is robert in ohio, democrat. good morning. caller: i got my comment about mr. olsen. he's talking about everybody being treated equally in this country.

i don't see how he can sit there with a straight face and say everybody has been created equally in this country. this country has had a history of discrimination ever since the first black man put his foot on this continent. that is all i have to say. have a good day and god bless america. host: jordan in new york, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking michael. host: what is on your -- taking my call. host: what is on your mind? caller: with the recent attacks there were reports -- the senator was talking to the media about holding the fbi accountable. do you think that was a smart idea to talk about that this early on in the process? multiple news anchors were talking about possible division

caused from calling out the federal government instead of unifying. host: do you think it was a good idea, jordan? caller: i think it was a strong idea. it's important to hold them accountable. he mentioned past incidents where the public opinion showed they were accountable. i think it was strong to hold them accountable and show how he is supporting citizens. host: this was senator john kennedy, republican of louisiana at one of those press conferences in the wake of that terror attack. [video] >> here is what i want to ask from the government. catch these people. catch these people. then tell the american people. i don't want you to tell us anything that will interfere with your investigation. there are things i have been told i think are true that i'm

not sharing with you, because it could interfere with the investigation. after we get to the bottom of this i need to tell the american people the truth and the people of new orleans the truth and the people of america the truth. i think the mayor and the governor are very wise to postpone this ballgame for 24 hours. there is too much stuff we don't know. this is my final point. i will promise you this. when it is appropriate in this investigation you will find out what happened and who is responsible. or i will raise fresh hell. i will chase those in the federal government who are responsible for telling us what happened like they stole christmas. host: senator john kennedy

yesterday. that is the front page folks in new orleans are waking up to this morning. active terrorism -- act of terrorism is the banner headline. the fbi says an explosive device was found at the new orleans scene. mary in virginia, democrat. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. happy new year to everyone. live like it, love like it and keep great in your living. most of all, keep peace. all of us, god loves us all. it is not according to the race or the color that god loves us all. amen. host: maynard in louisiana. you are next. caller: hello. i would like to address three points about the next administration or next people in

charge of our citizens. number one, make education our top priority. an educated citizenry is hard to deal with if you're a person and power and likes to manipulate the system. number two, a flat tax system. flat tax removes all the tax loopholes that corporations and rich individuals and powerful people use to their advantages. number three, term limits. mr. trump mentioned term limits back in 2016. that is the last, heard of it. term limits would be -- last time i heard of it. term limits would be a powerful thing to push and i think the american people would go for it. one final thing. the points about no one above the law, no matter what your position is, no matter how much money you have. no one in this country should be

above the law. those are the three points i would like to make. host: on term limits for who? caller: congress. the u.s. senate. we have it on the president. we have a lot of it on governors and senators, state senators. why can't it be for the u.s. house in the u.s. senate? why should those guys get there and go there was several hundred thousand in the bank account and they come up with $200 million in their account? i would say two terms, no more than three would be plenty. very sufficient. if you're going to do something and passionate about serving your people, no more than three terms ought to be plenty. then give someone else. host: in the senate that is 18 years. does that too long? caller: i don't think so.

if it was shorter, i wouldn't have a problem with that. plenty of time to get your programs in place and push those issues through. 18 years is plenty of time. then you can come out and do your own job and work for a living like the rest of us and abide by the same laws he pushed and passed. we can go further and talk about investment on the senators and representatives. limit those things their friends and families can have influence with. we need to limit that kind of action as well. right now the u.s. government is geared for making individuals very wealthy and the masses will be taken advantage of. host: this is richard in brooklyn. independent. gocaller: good morning. happy new year's. thank you for taking my call. i would like the american people

to get their heads out of the sand. for the life of me, i cannot comprehend why is it we call it a democracy. this is a republic. for the people and by the people. just by virtue of people constantly using the term democracy, that tells me you are an enemy to your country. it is supposed to be a republic for the people and by the people. the second thing i want to address is this doge thing with elon musk. is that going to allow individuals to operate outside of the constitution, which the president takes an oath to uphold the constitution? it seems like in this country they are no longer respecting that. i think the american people need to play close attention.

these people advocating democracy are actually open enemies of this country. this is supposed to be a republic. the biden -- biden said it and other presidents set it as well. why do we keep calling this a democracy? host: how do you define a democracy? caller: democracy is controlled by the wealthy. the aristocracy. i want to add that i understand they have a doge digital coin they are supposed to be rolling out. the elected officials are not informing the people that they are supposed to be rolling out a digital currency that is committed to a block chain that will be monitoring the masses of people at all the transactions you are doing. i think people need to be aware

of these things. host: where did you hear that? caller: they mentioned it on one of the news programs i was watching. they were going to roll that a digital currency which will be attached to block chain. they will be monitoring everything the american people does with the electric currencies. they can shut the currency down. you can fact-check it for yourself. host: this is miguel in maryland, republican. good morning. caller: how is it going/ thanks for having me -- going? thank for having me. mike first point is about this guy in louisiana who ran his car. it has a lot to do with multiculturalism. it is becoming a failed trajectory for our country. when you bring these people together for does not cause happiness and people coming together.

it causes conflict. you have different religions. host: what are you advocating for? some sort of ethnic separation in this country? caller: in a way. people should be allowed to make those choices on their own. host: maryellen from pennsylvania, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i think many americans -- certainly not all but disproportionately trump voters simply are not honest or unable to admit the truth about their racism. the southern silliman that called in and said he was a democrat all his life and he has changed, he changed when johnson decided that all of us had to be treated equally. these so-called christians, there are reports and postcards that show these people would leave churches and attend lynchings. trump. a man who has what?

five different children by three different women. if obama had done that, if obama had 34 felonies he would never have been elected president. those are the kinds of things many of us see. racism is embedded in the cultural fabric of america. until we realize about the indigenous genocide and the slavery and decided treat everybody -- until we realize we are all americans it will be pretty hard to change things. host: ed from north carolina, republican. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. caller: you are doing good this morning. before the comment i have to make, that guy in new orleans and the one in new york last night, as long as we have got

people like president biden that do not believe in the death penalty, crime will never get better. my granddad was born in the mid-1800s. he saw one hanging and that lasted him the rest of his life. when people are going to do this crazy stuff and not have to pay for it, they go to jail. they get to stay in jail. have better medical care and all the stuff like that, then people like me who have worked hard all my life, it will not get any

better. host: louisiana is a state with the death penalty still. some states no longer have the death penalty but louisiana is not one of them. red states on that map with the death penalty information center are states that still have the death penalty. caller: north carolina has still got the death penalty. you saw what cooper did yesterday. biden did the same thing. why should the american people have to pay for somebody? say they get incarcerated in their 20's. they live until they are in their 80's. why should the people, the state of north carolina and the united states of america have to use taxpayer money to keep these

people up all these years? i don't see nothing wrong with minor convictions of either people doing their time or getting paroled, but when it comes to deliberate -- i mean deliberate murder and they are guilty whenever they get arrested, we should not have to keep them up the rest of their lives. the lady a while ago said something about trump republicans. i am the least racist person probably in the united states of america. when i was in high school back in the early 1970's, i had bus

routes for the colored kids, both elementary and high school. yes, we went through a walkout and every thing else. i had police escorts carrying those kids home in the afternoon. but me being a 72-year-old man, my best friends and a man that helped me more than my own daddy was a black man. host: that was ed in north carolina. this is virginia in houston, texas. caller: ahead. caller: i was just calling to answer the question. someone had called earlier and said what is happening to this country. what is happening to this

country is we have people coming over here expecting us to change our america to their needs to what they want. america has the rule of law, and that is under god we trust. when people are staying out of their churches and not bringing their children up to know the way they should live, then we are always going to have trouble . we have to get back to the american way. if people that want to do that go back where you come from. this is america. in god we trust. host: virginia in texas. our last color in today's washington journal. will be back tomorrow morning, a five hour program tomorrow ahead of the start of 119th congress. join us then. in the meantime, have a great

thursday. [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] >> and looking ahead this afternoon on c-span, at 2:00 p.m. eastern time president biden will be delivering remarks from the white house on his 235th confirmed federal judicial nomination. i 5:00 the president will award the presidential citizens metal to 20 recipients, including liz cheney. in mississippi democratic representative bennie thompson, who led the january 6 committee. you can watch these events live on the c-span now app or online at c-span.org.

>> witness democracy in action with c-span. experience history as it unfolds with c-span's live coverage this january as republicans take troll of both chambers of congress and a new chapter begins with the swearing in of the 47th president of on friday don't miss the opening day of them 119 congress. watch the swearing in of new members and the first day of leadership for john thune as the new senate majority leader. on monday, january 6 live from the house timber witness vice president kamala harris provide over the certification of the electoral college vote, where these historic session will confirm donald trump as the winner of the 2024 presidential election. and on january 20 two in for coverage of the presidential inauguration as donald trump takes the out of office, becoming the united states. stay with c-span throughout

january for comprehensive unfiltered coverage of the 119 congress and the presidential inauguration. c-span. democracy unfiltered created by cable. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> when connection is necessary, cox is there. bringing support to veterans. whenever and wherever it matters most we will be there. >> cox supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. 2 >> jimmy carter has died at the age of 100. here are some of the events and services that will lead up to his burial. on saturday the carter family will be part of a motorcade that goes first to atlanta for a stop

at the state capitol and and onto the family home in planes. on sunday and monday the former president will lie in repose at the carter center in atlanta. on tuesday the family travels to washington, d.c., where the former president well lie in state in the capitol rotunda. the public will be allowed to pay respects starting at 7:00 p.m. tuesday evening. on wednesday president carter will lie in state before being transported thursday to the washington cathedral for a funeral service. later in the day the former president will take his last trip home to be buried at the carter family home in georgia. we will show these events live on the c-span networks, streaming online at c-span.org, and on the free c-span now video app. >> jimmy carter sat down with fellow former president bill clinton to talk about public service and the changes they have witnessed since leaving the white house. this was part of the clinton global initiative in