>> tellers agree that the total number of votes cast is 434, of which the honorable mike johnson of louisiana has received 218.

♪ host: this is washington journal for saturday, january 4. on the house for yesterday representative mceachin and, republican of louisiana, was reelected as speaker. because johnson won the gavel on the first ballot after a lengthy vote. to start today's program we want to hear your thoughts on speaker johnson's opening day at the 119th congress. here are the lines. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . you can text your comments to (202) 748-8003. be sure to include your name and city. you can also post a question and comment on facebook or on x.

good morning and welcome to washington journal. we appreciate you being with us. we will get to your calls and comments in a few minutes, but first wanted to share more about the floor proceedings yesterday. this headline from the wall street journal. johnson survives speaker vote after gop holdouts give way. the article says republicans, 219-200 15 margin meant johnson could afford no more than one gop defection. friday as all members voted for the candidates. thomas massie of kentucky already had vowed not to back johnson, while others had said they were undecided. as the clerk read off all names alphabetically, thomas massie stuck to his word and voted for another candidate, presented of tom emmer of minnesota. ralph norman of south carolina

and keystones of texas also voted for candidates other than johnson, leaving him shy of the 218 votes needed for majority. instead of accepting defeat and heading into a second vote johnson huddled with norman and members of the freedom caucus on the floor and in an adjacent room, trying to negotiate a path forward. upon seeing that johnson did not have the votes representative nancy mace called a trump, who was playing golf, and handed her phone to norman for the present -- so the president elect talk to the holdout. the article says that at about 2:30 p.m., two and a half hours after the new house had convened, norman and self walked to the well of the house and asked to change their votes to johnson. the final tally, johnson had 218 votes, exactly enough, while hakeem jeffries of new york had

215 votes. emmer had one vote from massey. after that vote took place and representative mike johnson was elected as the new house speaker he spoke to the entire chamber he dashed chamber. here are some of his remarks. >> we have a mandate, and that was shown in the election cycle. the people want an america-first agenda. they do. [applause] sadly, for the past four years of divided government too many politicians in washington have done the opposite. open borders and regulation have stifled innovation. inflation and weak leadership have left americans poor. they have placed our country in a perilous position. that is right. in recent months we have witnessed something happening. something that is really remarkable. a political moment in our modern history, a groundswell of

americans from every state, race, and religion who now demand that we put the interest of americans first again and we will. and we will. [applause] this is a powerful new coalition of our country. it is a coalition that insists we purge the policies of america last and we buried them in the graveyard of history's mistakes. because it was a big mistake. this congress will renounce the status quo and listen to the voices of the people. we will act quickly and we will start by defending our nation's borders. that is the number one priority. yes. [applause] in coordination with president trump this congress will give our border and immigration enforcement agents the resources they need to do their job. we will secure the border,

deport dangerous illegal aliens, and finally finish building the border wall. [applause] host: we are hearing your thoughts for this first hour on representative mike johnson being reelected as the house speaker and the opening day of the 119th congress. if you would like to join the discussion the lines on your screen, democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . we will start with bill in florida, line for republicans. caller: good morning. i'm very optimistic about this, but, you know, this happens all the time. they all promise everything and they don't deliver. so, i'm very skeptical at the same time. i think what we need to do is

also have term limits, and also what we need to do is stop all of this porkbarrel spending. one bill at a time. now with all of the extras behind it. if we can get to that point we will pass one bill at a time, i think we can get things done. thank you. host: bill in florida. david in michigan, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to hit up on something. last caller -- i'm a democrat, ok? he is saying the same thing i want to say. you know, i am a dem, but what he said i agree with 100%. republicans talk about the border wall. the border got opened when ronald reagan did it, ok? we are going to be talking about this same stuff on the next thing. but i disagree with the last caller. i am a dem, but we get so many

things done. i'm going to tell you, when they start talking about messing with social security and medicare, republicans always do that. just imagine if something happens to social security. we would be in bad shape. that is all. love c-span. thank you. host: that was david. jj in california, line for republicans. caller: yes, this is a breath of fresh air. you know, you hear all of these talk that democrats are saying, but they had four years and we have gone backwards instead of forwards. things are going to change. we are going to drill, baby, drill, we are going to cut back on the government. there is too many unelected people that ran this country and we never voted for them. who ran this country.

and who covered for biden being mentally deficient since day one? or whatever? that is why all of these unelected people tried to run our country, and can you believe that they say their economy is great, there is no open borders? america has spoken. we love what is coming forward, and everybody's going to see the change. did you know biden never fired anybody? no one got fired. new people coming in, the republicans are going to fire people, either do what is right for the people or step aside. thank you. host: that was jj in california. greg in glenallen, virginia, line for independents. caller: good morning.

i like mike johnson. i think he said a lot of good things in his speech. however, i still did not hear enough about what they are going to do about the $36 trillion debt. i just don't hear enough of how seriously they are going to take that, how seriously they are -- i heard something about coming -- cutting government spending, but are they going to do anything about entitlement reform? are they going to do anything about tax reform? i just, you know, i hope it happens, but i am not confident, because i'm not sure how seriously they are taking that that. host: how would you like to see them address it? you mentioned entitlement and taxes. is there one of those you would prefer they approach? caller: our tax system is a mess, and i think they can go to some sort of flat tax and actually end up straightening

out a lot of problems that way. and also they keep kicking the can down the road. somebody has to deal with entitlements. nobody likes to hear it, but that is where the debt is. and so, they are going to have to have some kind of reform in that area. host: that was greg in virginia. yesterday after the vote it was house democratic leader hakeem jeffries who addressed the chamber as well. here are some of his comments. >> in a democracy there is a time to campaign and the time to govern. the election is over. this is a new congress. the american people need us as their elected representatives in this season to put down our partisans swords and pick up plowshares.

[applause] the time for us to come together. not as democrats or republicans, but as americans, to get things done for the people. in that spirit, house democrats will work hard to find bipartisan common ground with our republican colleagues in the incoming administration on any issue. whenever and wherever possible. in order to make life better for every day americans. for far too long in this country the cost of living has gone up, but the size of the middle-class has come down. housing costs are too high. roastery costs are too high. childcare costs are too high.

insurance costs are too high. utility costs are too high. america is too expensive. there are far too many people in this great country who for decades have been struggling to live paycheck-to-paycheck. that is not acceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. [applause] we need to build an affordable economy for hard-working american taxpayers and we need to build it now. it is time for us to come together and finally lower the high cost of living and the united states of america once and for all. [applause] host: hearing your calls and taking your comments on social media about representative mike

johnson being reelected as house speaker and the opening day of the 119th congress. a couple of comments on social media this morning. jeffries would have been a world better than johnson. johnson did not bring them back from vacation to vote more funds for the storm's victims. and richard says, i feel johnson will be able to cross party lines and work together with democrats. let's hear from roy. good morning, roy. caller: good morning. i watched the election gavel-to-gavel, and it did not surprise me at all that the outcome came the way it did. i firmly agree with one of the republican callers earlier, who said we need term limitations. we have career politicians that

has been around for years and they are not representative of the common people. i have been a democrat my entire life. i'm 75 years old and i have always voted democrat. but i am a conservative democrat. i am not a liberal democrat. and i support the system the way it works, but i think we need term limitations. that is it. host: brian in new mexico, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. host: let's hear from louis in california, line for democrats. good morning, lewis. caller: hello. i think johnson would be just about as ok as you can get for,

you know, people coming from a slime pit like the republican party. they say all of these beautiful things and people's iq in the united states fell. i think people are not really digging deep into the corruption that lies in the republican party. i mean, in all offices. need our so-called state workers , which are actually just people that are working for us, the united states citizens, all of them, both sides of the party, -- party. the deep state is not a devious conglomeration of people toying with our lives. they are here to service us and they do a very good job. so, the heck with deep state rhetoric. host: dave in new york, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning.

yes, good morning. yes, i just hope that speaker johnson will not get puppet for the president and he will work along with the democrats to make sure we have bipartisan bills passed that will benefit the country. i know he is a christian man, as he proclaims, so i hope he will do the right thing. i can see how thin the margin is in terms of the election. only three votes away from the democrats being the speaker of the house. so i'm hoping he will work with them. i wish him all the best and i hope they will govern and make decisions that will benefit the entire country. host: that was dave in new york. up next is barbara in massachusetts. caller: hi, good morning. i'm a long time. i'm calling to suggest a kernel of an idea for an alternative

tax plan for president trump to propose. theoretically the billionaires want the tax rates lowered so that their tax liability would be lowered, and similarly for the large corporations. we have this thing called the charitable deduction in our tax system. my idea is to create a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called reduce the debt , and the billionaires and anyone else would donate massive amounts of money as charitable deductions, which would reduce, theoretically, their bottom-line money payments owed to the government. instead of lowering the rates. so then what would happen is, the moneys that would have been collected through those people into the treasury for the regular coming you know, for the

spending -- whatever the current spending plan is -- that money would instead go to theoretically reducing interest payments on the debt. we know the debt is massive. it is 37 billion -- sorry, dirty $7 trillion with a t. if people start doing the numbers it might be a possibility that's everyone can understand, and the last thing you want to say about it is, it would convert the bad guys reputation of the super wealthy into the good guys, because they would be doing this paycheck thank, you know, reducing the debt over years, but simultaneously reducing their own personal tax liability. so i hope people will think about this idea and comment on it. host: we will leave it there, barbara.

it was yesterday that congress had their first day of the 119th congress. it has been weeks of work for the office of chief administrator. move people in, members and their staff. see spoke at them and got a look at the scenes of those efforts. here is a look >> i am the chief -- here is a look. >> i am the chief logistics officer. coming here and seeing all of the logistics and support functions that support the transition that is occurring in the month of december, transition actually started in july 2023. that is when we started bringing desks in to go through the finishing process. and we have to have 70 desks available by december 1 of 2024 so that in the month of december we start moving all of these 192 offices in december and they all

have to be completed by january 2, 2025. so that they can be sworn in on january 3, they walk into their office, and everything is set up. all of the furniture, all of the computers, all of the phones, copy machines, everything is set up and they are ready to do their business further people. >> this is the house upholstery shop. we are 11 individuals. we restore and refurbish all of the original house furnishings. every building had furniture designed for it, and we maintain it all of the original furniture in the house office buildings [indiscernible] and all of our sofas and executive chairs. watch your step. sorry, guys.

[indiscernible] does not break down like the foam products of today. we still have our original. we turn it on and when we take it out of the chair, from 1907 this chair, it doesn't break down. we shove it back in and reupholster. it doesn't break down, it does not rock. all we are doing is taking it through this massive amount of giant pipes. all it does is fluffs it back up so we can reuse it. so, it did not hurt the horse, because it is from the main and tail. i always tell people that. the appropriations committee, it is all horsehair.

the only thing that works out is the leather and finish. so, you know, we will just keep doing it until nobody wants [indiscernible] anymore. everything under here is horsehair. it will all be horsehair and it is all handsewn. it is all handsewn instead, so it comes out looking nice. host: the 119th congress officially gaveling in yesterday. their first order of business, electing the house speaker, which was mike johnson. this from the wall street journal. a squeaker for the house speaker. the opinion says that the power

flexed by the -- -- by the malcontents who had voted against him shows how hard it will be for this narrow gop majority to get anything done, much less to have expectations for the next two years that mr. trump has built among his voters. the gop has the narrowest house majority in more than a century, but voters are not likely to consider that an excuse for failure. republicans also now control the senate and white house, and voters expect them to govern. mr. johnson's management style is about as collegial and inclusive as you will get in a speaker. his problem is that a handful of members have not been willing to expect -- to accept the partial victories that are enough of -- that are inevitable. they cannot reform the welfare state in one bill or even one congress, but they can still accomplish a great deal if they show they can get to 218 gop

votes on legislation. if they can't do that they will force mr. johnson to get my credit votes, and that means accepting liberal policy demands. congratulations, but his trials have only just begun. back to your calls. gracie in north carolina, line for republicans. caller: good morning. i wanted to say i'm so happy that michael johnson got voted in again as house speaker. and i am so proud that he and president trump can really make a difference in our world in the next four years. but what my request was, i wondered if mike johnson would consider opening his speeches and, you know, when he starts talking to the public, open his speeches with a word of prayer.

that was my request. and, like i said, that is just a suggestion. this is the first time i have ever called, and i really wanted to do that. host: that was gracie in north carolina. as she noted, first time caller to the program. we will hear from michael, line from democrats. -- for democrats. caller: yes, my comment is for the next four years this will be a clown show. so get your popcorn and alcoholic average ready. your adult beverage. trump and these idiots, this is a clown show. how can you take this seriously? elon musk is in control. i mean, these people are nuts. the first thing out of the park is tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires. what happened to the price of gas? i thought he was going to bring

down the price of food down. whatever happened to that? thank you, america. you are so silly. host: that was michael in alabama. it was yesterday that speaker johnson was elected. again, the first day of the opening day for the 119th congress. and that means all of the members were also sworn in as well. here are a few of those moments from yesterday. >> a marine biologist and science guy. this is so good. you have an email address? [laughter] so now i can stay in touch. this is so good. wow. look. thank you guys. i can tell.

i am honored. host: just about 30 minutes left in this first hour of today's "washington journal," hitting

your thoughts on mike johnson being reelected as house speaker and the opening day of the 119th congress. if you would like to call in you can do so. the lines, democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . we will hear from janet, line for democrats. caller: everybody has to look more into this christian nationalism, which he is a christian nationalist. they are very homophobic, extremely pro-life, and they do not believe in sex unless you are married. so please look into this man. he is dangerous, but sex, you are not supposed to have sex unless you are married. so, christian nationalists, please look into it. bye-bye. host: yesterday was also the first day of the session for the senate, and they have a new senate majority leader.

this headline in this morning's -- i'm sorry, the "new york times co. a pragmatic leader takes the senate's helmet. it is talking about senator john thune, who was elected as the new leader, the parties new leader after senator mitch mcconnell stepped down from leadership. the article says mr. thune's task is to juggle resident elect donald trump's demands, the competing desires of 53 gop senators, and a formidable legislative agenda. it starts with shepherding multiple trump nominees to confirmation and -- in a closely-divided senate where he can afford to lose more -- lose no more than three republican votes if democrats hold together in opposition. he intends to use a tricky maneuver to pass a combination border security though terry spending bill and energy

production will that will require serious legislative finesse. and he wants to do it in the first month or so while also reordering how and how often the senate works. it goes on to say mr. thune's ability has prompted some senators to worry privately that his desire to be liked could hinder him, being a senate leader requires making tough calls certain to anger someone, and they fear his determination to avoid upsetting colleagues or getting hammered on social media could work against him. it goes on to say the person mr. thune might find hardest to please is mr. trump, who was agitated by mr. thune's past criticisms of his congress and incensed that the senate's number two republican did not back his challenge to the 2020 election outcome and voted to

certify the results. mr. thune himself does not contest his 2020 senate lost by arch -- by just over 500 votes, saying it would be divisive for the state. yesterday on the senate floor senator john thune made his first remarks as the new leader of that chamber. >> when it came time to draft the constitution the founders established safeguards, checks and balances throughout our government to keep the government in check and ensure the rights of all americans are protected. one of those safeguards was the united states senate. the author notes the senate as the second branch of the legislative assembly is distinct from and dividing power with a first must be in all cases aclu tory check on the government. it doubles the security to the people by requiring the concurrence of two distinct bodies.

he further notes that as the improbability of sinister combinations will be in proportion to the dissimilarity and the genius of the two bodies it must be politics to distinguish them from each other. by every circumstance will consist with new harmony in proper measures and the genuine principles of republican government. and founders did indeed distinguish the house from the senate. they made the senate smaller and senators terms of office longer with the intention of creating a more stable, more thoughtful, more deliberative legislative body to check ill considered or intemperate legislation and protect the rights of the american people. in the past 237 years a test it is a structure that has served this nation well. unfortunately today there are a lot of people who would like to see the senate turn into a copy

of the house of representatives. that, mr. president, is not what our founders intended or what our country needs. one of my priorities as leader will be to ensure the senate stays the senate. that means preserving the legislative filibuster. the senate rule that today is perhaps the made it -- the greatest impact on preserving the founder's vision of the united states senate. it also means restoring the senate as a place of deliberation. that means empowering committees and engaging in extended debate on the senate floor, where all members should have a chance to make their voices and the voices of their constituents heard. host: julie in st. paul, minnesota. on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. two things -- can you hear me? host: yes i can. caller: ok. two things that struck me

listening to mike johnson's speech. one was the mandate which they certainly do not have a mandate. half of america still thinks differently, so, yeah, it was a slim margin. they are acting like it is a landslide. all we have to do is look around the room. it is going to come to a bring every single time, whereas hakim jeffries -- hakeem jeffries, his focus was on bipartisan, ok? and then about the border, he said they will give them the border resources. that is something they never gave biden. the biden administration asked several times for the resources for more border agents, for judges to -- you know, for the backlog after the covid -- after

the backlog due to covid. trump had title 42 to stop people from coming because of covid well, that was lifted during biden, so that work against him, but he was trying to get more money to control the surge, and the backlog. and trump kept people in cages. he kept people in mexico. women were getting raped and also it's of other problems emanated. and then he is already lying about the mexican president saying that, you know, we can keep people there before they are processed again. so, he is already, you know, telling lies about that. so, i guess that is all i have to say. you know, people are so disillusioned about the border situation. i don't think they look enough. i don't think the wall is going to be the full solution to this

problem. we have a lot of better technology to invest in than this wall. i think that is just a farce. so, thank you for taking my call. host: i was julie in minnesota. ted in north carolina, line for republicans. caller: good morning. you see when you have a lot of gas and oil being drilled the prices of vegetables and walmart, for instance will come down. like, you go in there and you see one bell pepper for $.83, and then you see a cucumber for $.64. it is ridiculous. they should know that gas runs electricity. well, you've got more gas and they left for your electricity. that is the way it should be,

and they should have a sealed border, yes. i'm not aghast. legalizing aliens, they are going to do it legally, not the other way around. some people can't work in vegetable patches or whatever. farm areas. that is it. thank you. host: that was ted in north carolina. nancy in rhode island, the line for democrats. good morning, nancy. caller: good morning, how are you this morning? happy new year. host: hi, nancy. caller: i'm a democrat. i'm in rhode island, and what i heard yesterday from speaker johnson was all about the taxes permanent for the rich, the billionaires and millionaires

tax cuts of trump's. there is no mandate. there is no mandate at all. you know, supposed to lower the prices with utilities, gas prices, food prices. that is yet to be seen. and he did not speak about the everyday american, you know? that is struggling, working hard and trying to make ends meet. but we will see what happens. and the border, they did not work with president biden. so, you know, hopefully they can work bipartisan but the republicans, if you notice they did not want -- when he made good points, hakim jeffries, they did not applaud him and give him his due. you know? the democrats seem like they want to work together. republicans, they cannot even work amongst themselves. we hope for the best, but that remains to be seen. thank you for taking my call. you have a great day. host: that was nancy in rhode

island. this from axios. house approves new rules protecting mike johnson from alastair. it is talking about the rules package that was voted on yesterday. it says that they voted mostly along party lines, adopting the rules package that protects newly-reelected speaker mike johnson from a potential ouster. it is highlighting the why it matters section. it says the new rules make it so that a vote on removing the speaker can only be brought if at least nine republicans support what is called a motion to vacate. it is significantly a higher bar than the 100 18th congress, when any single member in either party could force such a motion. it goes onto say that the tool was used to removes -- used to remove kevin mccarthy in 2020 three. johnson faced an unsuccessful ouster attempt in april. it also notes that house democrats railed against the

change, noting that for the first time in u.s. history the minority party would be restricted from introducing a motion to vacate. back to your calls. we will hear from steve in pennsylvania, line for republicans. caller: good morning, and good morning america. mike johnson was reelected speaker of the house. it is time to get onto business. i would like to see a new administration hit the ground running on january 21. in fact, what i would really like to see is see them cancel all of the ridiculousness and pomp and circumstance of the inaugural and january 20 and just get sworn in and get white -- get right to work that would send a message to the american people, i believe. other question i had for c-span in general is, it is very often that -- and i listen to c-span every single morning.

if i put a certain inflection in my voice or i am very angry against angst donald trump says i pretty much get to talk as long as i want. it just does not seem that way if somebody were to say if i were to start slamming the way hakeem jeffries presents himself in congress as opposed to an actual human being, the way he talks and his mannerisms. he looks like he is some sort of pinocchio puppet, a marionette and controlled by strings, with his crazy hand gestures and his insane way of speaking. and just wonder now, now that he is all about bipartisanship, if he is going to stop every time he gets in front of a can -- a camera and start talking about maga and extreme maga, because that is his mo.

i hope you have a nice new year, and nice talking to you. host: that was steve in pennsylvania. rico also in pennsylvania, line for democrats. caller: good morning, c-span. i'm a regular listener and i believe that c-span is very unbiased. as far as johnson, i think it is good for the government and the country because he has been looking out for we the people. and we the people are the ones that are going to be taking care of by our congress, etc., etc. the people that are in control. so, with a very strong republican congress, the senate, and the house, and up at the head start, i'm hoping we can

have a successful and blessed 2025 and continue on from there. from there on am going to say, i bless america. thank you. host: that was rico in pennsylvania. tyree. morning. caller: good morning. i want to say i think it was very important for mike johnson to get his speaker rollback, because after they got rid of kevin mccarthy the republican party kind of got crazy with arguing with each other. i think that is important and he is going to help trump out in what needs to be done. i want to say it was four callers ago she was talking about the border wall. the border wall is very important. or us to use the material joe biden was going to sell and to use drones to help us. so, we have to respect them and help them and support them.

we are americans and we have to stick together. this is important for us as taxpayers. that is all i wanted to say. thank you. host: tyree speaking in favor of speaker johnson, mike johnson being reelected to that position. from this morning's "washington post," it mentions that johnson spent the last week trying to persuade roughly a dozen republicans that remain skeptical of his candidacy, reaching out by phone and holding in-person meetings as late as friday morning. trump heaped praise on johnson, casting him as key to enacting conservative policies. and "president trump is probably the most powerful president and his boys is of singular importance," johnson said after winning reelection. "i think it was a big factor." to your calls. john on the line for republicans. caller: good morning.

i would like to -- the lady that called and said taxes for the millionaires and billionaires, she don't realize when taxes run out if it is not extended everybody working for $15 an hour on up is going to have taxes taken out of their check because they've got to -- because they got a tax code too. johnson, i like johnson. reagan said if you get 80% of what you want in a bill, you take the win. not enough people remember that. i was going to say something else, but i forget. anyway, thank you and -- oh yeah, i know what i wanted to say. johnson is not going to get help from the democrats. i remember when trump gave one of his state of the unions and he cited that black unemployment was at its lowest in history.

not one person in the black congressional caucus clapped. so they are not going to get help from the democrats. it's going to be entirely the opposite. thank you and have a good morning. host: that was john in ohio. denver, north carolina, line for democrats. -- deborah, north carolina, line for democrats. caller: good morning. i'm hopeful that we do increase the minimum wage. i'm hopeful that social security is not destroyed. i hope that we can work together and not spend useless time arguing over passing something that makes sense for the american people. it is find that johnson is the speaker, but i like representative jefferson. we have to consider the middle class. not the first thing came out of donald trump's mouth is that they going to lower taxes or destroy taxes on the billionaires. it seems like the billionaires

are more favorable in this country, although they make up just a handful of people, and donald trump has an unelected representative, elon musk, telling him what to do that would benefit him. of all of the money that elon musk gave donald trump for reelection, why didn't he give money to pay back what he owes for his space program? i am a democrat and i feel we care more about the country. a lot of democrats did get brainwashed thinking donald trump lied, but the first thing he said was, he's going to see how he is going to lower groceries. please pray for our country. pray that republicans stand up for what is right. they don't even clap for what is right when jefferson wasn't speaking, so how do they think our country should be? thank you so much for giving me this platform. host: that was deborah in north carolina yesterday with the 119

congress gaveling in for the first time. c-span was live for a good portion of the day, letting you see everything that was happening and usually our coverage is controlled by the house cameras. the house of representatives. not c-span. yesterday you probably saw some different shots. that is because c-span received special permission from the speaker to have our own cameras inside the chamber. you can see our hard-working crews set up there. we also received permission to have our own cameras in the chamber for congress' joint meeting to certify the 2024 election. that is happening on monday. you can watch all of that live on c-span and c-span.org. glenn in detroit, michigan. good morning. caller: you know, just listening to the people calling in here, like the man that just said that

the democrats did not clap for republicans, you showed it on here where hakeem jeffries was making a speech, talking about everything the democrats are going to do to protect the people, and asked for bipartisanship. none of the republicans stood up. you could see that. that was right there. and then this lady calling in, asking mike johnson to pray before they do, no, work. to pray before each session? i remember when they said there was going to hold up the bible and read a verse from the bible every time they came on the floor. but like the other man that talked about christian nationalists, i agree with him. you know, because mike johnson

he had a false prayer from thomas jefferson. and hakeem jeffries was speaking the truth. host: that was gwen in detroit, michigan. steve in illinois, line for democrats. morning, steve. caller: good morning. i would like to say that i am absolutely repulsed by trump giving the billionaires and the wealthy -- restoring the tax cut that thank god died and took away from them when he became president. look at what it did to wall street. they could not replace the money. let's not forget the republican people that trump added. $17 trillion to the deficit, the most-ever by any president,

ever, in the history of this country. and who got all of those breaks for the people that voted for him like elon musk? he wants us to pay for his satellite program or whatever it is. i have had enough of this. thank you very much. you have a nice morning. host: that was steve in illinois. yesterday was the first day of the new session for members of congress. the republicans did flip the senate chamber and now have control. yesterday it was now senate minority leader chuck schumer who spoke about how democrats will approach the next two years. >> democrats stand united not because of who we fight against, but because of who we are fighting for. the american people. we are here ready to fight for the american people.

we are here to fight for the working class of this country. we are here to build ladders of opportunity to the middle class. democrats are not a monolith. we come from many different states and have many different opinions. but we grew up in places as varied as brooklyn, new york, and atlanta, georgia. we are from the industrial midwest and everywhere in between. and we sometimes disagree, just as any tightknit family disagrees. but democrats are united when it comes to fighting in the months to come democrats will show where our values lie through our actions and words, and through the policies we push. immigrants are here to tackle the biggest problems that face our country. democrats are here because we need to make housing more

affordable of the millions struggling to keep a roof over their heads. we need to make sure americans earn higher paychecks, keep more of their paychecks too. democrats are here because we want to lower the cost of childcare and -- an outrageously-high expense for too many american families who have struggled to give the best lives for themselves and their children. democrats are here to defend a woman's right to choose, did to -- to defend our fundamental liberties. to defend the wellspring of democracy. we want to help our small business owners thrive and function as the engines of our economy. we want to help americans save more money when they go to the grocery store, when they go to the pharmacy, when they pay their cable and internet ills. we want to make sure americans are not ripped off by giant corporations group fees and predatory behaviors. democrats stand ready to make lives better. for the american people.

we want to work with anyone and hold the line wherever necessary to achieve that goal. mr. president, the time to get to work is now. it is a new day. a new congress. and democrats stand united and ready to fight and deliver to the american people. host: we have time for a couple of more calls. i wanted to share this programming note as well. today at 1:00 p.m. president biden will speak at a ceremony honoring recipients of the medal of freedom. the 19 people are set to receive the medal of freedom, including ralph lorraine, hillary clinton, jane goodall, denzel washington, and bono. you can watch that on c-span from the east room of the white house at 1:00 p.m. eastern. you can also find it on c-span now, our free mobile app, and online at c-span.org.

you will hear from jacqueline in capital heights. good morning, jacqueline. caller: good morning. i wanted to say i have been listening to 90.1, and i heard president trump say to the american people the cycle for $2000 during covid and nancy pelosi and the democrats called him crazy. they lost the election and democrats took over, and the problem for the american people with hud. hud is denying low income residents to pay only $50 in rent, and that is why we have a statewide homelessness pandemic that is going on, and i'm looking forward to president

trump's administration, his new appointee with hud help americans escape homelessness caused by the democrats. host: and our last call for this hour, 10 in kentucky, line for democrats. good morning, tim. caller: good morning. there is a couple of things i wanted to bring up about johnson. johnson was one of the architects of all of this election denying stuff. so, he is really someone who needs to be watched very carefully. oh, they take an oh through the constitution, which they failed to uphold. from trump all the way down they are taking the oh to support the constitution, which a lot of the times they seem to just throw out the window and laws do not

apply to donald trump. if i was hakeem jeffries i would bring up impeachment. impeach trump already, get rid of all of these billionaires running the government. it is terrible. that is all i've got to say. host: tim in kentucky, our last call for this hour. next on "washington journal." martin to caro, host of the podcast "history as it happens" will discuss political news of this past year and look ahead to 2020 five. later university of north texas at dallas political science professor orlando perez will discuss the history of the panama canal. first he was more from c-span's behind-the-scenes visit with the office of the chief administrative officer highlighting the logistics that go into moving new members and

staff into their offices on capitol hill. >> this is the house [indiscernible] shop. we are 11 people. opal poultry and drapery are combined. this past year we had 192, 1 93 member offices to move. of that about 63 were brand-new. they got to choose their new carpet, drapes, paint, everything. which is great for them. they are excited. we wait for those orders to come in, and we make stock ahead of time by guessing what people pick out of 10 different callers and patterns, and we get them ready for the next day's move. so, this is what we do. and every member office, we take them to the paint shop. no matter what they get new paint, and we reinstall their new rooms. so, we just get orders, take them out of our stock, get them

ready, and get them back up the next morning. we have 5000 windows on the house campus that we care for. capital, three house office buildings, two other house office buildings, the power plant. so, we have a lot to do. the transition is all done in 30 days, to move that many offices. so, kind of a challenge, but we have never failed. >> [indiscernible] some of the moves that go on, you know, later on today or so, we like to take care we are able to take care of the damages and scratches. the other crew will be coming here taking care of the finishing process. as you can see we have a sanded down top. and we tried to fix all of the imperfections and fill in the holes and we like to do some

staining and grain filling. right there you have the second set, they have to do some ceiling before we finish them. and we have them all sprayed up and ready for the drying process before they get wrapped up and sent upstairs. for the finishing we do some of the engraving as well. we do a lot of engraving potentially on classes or would. most of the majority of the engraving and finishing courses as well. this is one of the most recent ones that i have done. it took a lot of time to design it and see how i am able to imply the colors and details. >> we make and repair the furniture, the custom furniture that comes in and out of the members' offices.

so we make everything including our own workbenches. so pretty much everything in here, we have built to accommodate ourselves. we have incredibly talented people who are so artistic. and the people who come here and stay here and work here. they do not come here to go somewhere else, they come here to stay here. they are not interested in climbing the corporate ladder. they want to make furniture. and so i would say the collective experience that we have here in the shop is probably 250 years. >> essentially we are operations responsible for all of the equipment that comes in. meaning the receiving and tagging process and the disposition. once the members use the device

and the equipment has come to the useful end of life, disposition happens. we go to the office and we do the removal and we do seals -- disassociate that asset from the account and they are no longer responsible for that equipment. the equipment comes here. so this is disrupting the magnetic field. in about 15 seconds, we are going to hear a pop. there you go. it comes out of the bottom and then once it falls out, you scan and then it goes to the shredder. the shredded material goes to an off-site facility that does this in an environmentally friendly way. it is melted down and the metals are separated.

and as you can see the hard drives and the boards themselves, those are smelted down. [end video clip] >> washington journal continues. host: joining us now to discuss key political news of 2024 including the passing of former president jimmy carter is martin di caro, the host of "history as it happens podcast, thank you for being with us. guest: good to see you and happy new year. host: you have been on the program and have talked about your podcasts, talk about how it happens your approach and who it -- and who you talk with? guest: i am a journalist and audio producer but i speak about the origins of court -- current events. this project i undertook four years ago was with the aim of stepping back from the daily headlines, the churn that we are assaulted in every day with our social media feeds and so much

news that we can feel overwhelmed. my idea is that you can step back and examine the origins. they are always contested and especially now, people are asking questions about how did we get to this point in history. you know, our country exhibited. -- existed. one example i have been talking about is the post-cold war period. enough time has passed and we can look at the early 1990's as a period of history that can be analyzed and studied, and there are so many optimism -- there is so much optimism about the defeat of the soviet union, freedom, free markets were on the march and free trade and globalization and the internet. remember bill clinton saying that the personal computer and the internet will do to pull more people out of poverty than any invention out of history. he said something close to that

at a white house conference on the new economy in 2000 shortly before he left office. all of this to say just as an example, all of this optimism about where the country and world was going. now a generation has passed and we are looking back and saying that all of that optimism was misplaced or it did not turn out the way we expected. why has there been such a backlash to free-trade how did we get donald trump as president and why is there a backlash to immigration. nafta helped cause illegal immigration to mexico -- from mexico. those are the types of things i examine with historians, political scientists and other people. host: two of the historians you had on for the most recent episode, jeremy and jeffrey, you talked about president carter's uneventful but large yearly --

eventful but largely unsuccessful presidency. if we remember his legacy, what are some of his highlights and low lights. and what will define his legacy when we look back? caller: when i say largely unsuccessful that has been challenged by biographers like jonathan and ty byrd and others who have written full lighting cradle-to-grave biographies and there is some legitimacy to that. that is a generalization because every presidential administration has successes and failures. there is always continuity between one administration to the next. ronald reagan, although the editors of the national review, ronald reagan oh some of his success to dinner -- to jimmy carter who deregulated industries. carter was not around to see the benefits because he lost the election. so, the word i approached carter

to answer your question. i have been on the show and my answers can kind of go in a mazelike direction. to answer your question i approached this as what was consequential and endures with the passive -- with the passage of time and we can get some perspective and see how policies and programs turned out. did they meet the goals they were designed to meet? carter does have some relatively significant achievements in his presidency, i mentioned to deregulation and other things. on the issue of race he was progressive and in his inaugural address as the governor of georgia in early 1971 so before he was president and this is a touching issue in the south as a -- as a southern democrat, "the time for racial segregation is over." he appointed more latinos, african-american and latinos

into the judiciary. and that is something that endures to this day. president biden of course followed in those footsteps and they were contemporaries. biden was in the senate in the early 1970's. yes, i think biden's political career predated carter's and washington. most presidents especially democrats feel like they have to have a diverse group of people on the federal bench. his failures, and what is consequential. this burns at both in all directions when we talk about the consequences of a presidential administration. i think his chief failure was not that he caused inflation or stagflation, which meant high inflation and low growth. usually those two things are together. you get rapid economic growth and they coexist. tags -- stagflation was low growth in london out -- low unemployment.

he did not cause the oil embargo of opec. he certainly did not cause the iranian revolution. but the way he responded to the cascading crises of his term, especially with his mid-july crisis of confidence or malaise speech sent a signal to the american people that he was no longer leading and he had lost control of events. he was a scold and there was a lot of truth to this. he was an eat your peas scolding americans for their soulless materialism and where waddle -- ronald reagan said we do not have to live with less and we can be a great nation again. reagan had more of a vision because there presidencies overlapped. and i think that was carter's greatest failing rather than picking at this policy and that, he failed to lead in times of crises. he had bad luck and bad timings -- bad timing as i am sure the calls will come in. host: we are talking to martin

di caro, the host of "history as it happens," a podcast. we are discussing the key political news of 2024 including president carter's legacy. if you have a question or comment you can call in now with the lines broken down by parties. democrats 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. and independents, 202-748-8002. that was just your most recent episode on carter was just one of 100 episodes that you did last year and produced last year. your most listened to was the crisis of liberalism and your guest historian daniel basson are during it argued that liberalism and not just the democratic party has long bid -- long been in decline. when did it start and how did we get here? guest: when did it start?

we can spend the entire day discussing that. jimmy carter and his supporters can relate to this as well. first of all, what do we mean by liberalism? i do not mean liberal and conservative sitting down over a cup of coffee and bickering over this issue or that, who should be appointed to the supreme court, but i am talking about the governing philosophy of liberalism. and capitalism. a free press, a political plurality, free-trade and some people might call this neoliberalism after the cold war. the governing philosophy that defines post-1945 era and the american experience. what do i mean by how is it in crisis? look more -- look no further. if we want to narrow it, we can look at how the democratic party has lost connection and its link to the working class in this

country. liberalism failed to provide for social mobility for generations of working-class americans. part of this has to do with free-trade and major structural forces that are difficult for anyone congress or president to contend with. look around, how did we get a neoliberal president? it has failed to provide an aspirational goal and this is a criticism and i am not saying i necessarily agree with this. it is especially from those on the left who wanted liberalism to have a more aspirational if not more revolutionary if not utopian goal for the american people. instead what the critics would say we have neoliberalism which was the excessive financializ ation of our economy and untrammeled free-trade with many jobs going to new mexico in china. that was just the threat of

leaving so manufacturing companies and big industries could threaten their employees if they talked about unionizing or doing something to strengthen their position. they could be threatened with moving overseas or off shoring. there are a myriad of ways of how liberalism has failed us. media has lost the faith of the american people. public health industries and institutions fails during the pandemic. we have been in at least two very long possibly wars in the last 20 years, in afghanistan and iraq and you can push this back to vietnam. over the past however many decades and a lot of this does come up in the 1970's with carter and some of the problems they faced, liberalism has fallen short. are we moving into a new period of history with an anti-democratic period?

that is harder to define but we have moved on from the post-cold war period and we are in a post-post-cold war period that is difficult to put a label on at this moment. if i somehow got around to answering your question. it is a sprawling topic. host: it is, and it is one that you could have touched on throughout a series that you did over the year which is influential elections in u.s. history. looking at the november election and president-elect trump winning and that senate republicans also winning control of the senate. looking back at the series you did, which elections throughout history stuck out most and how do they tied to what we saw november? guest: in the context i will say let us look at 1932, franklin roosevelt and the inauguration

of the new deal order. a quarter-century after world war ii, the most prosperous to date and world work -- of american history where the rising tide lifted most votes and we still had the civil rights revolution to come. that was a definable era. 1980, carter losing to reagan. i mentioned continuity. carter started the defense buildup and he started to aid afghanistan after the soviet invasion. reagan was bringing something more radical than carter envisioned. reagan was a visionary. he was more of a good government technocrat. reagan brought his revolution to washington. that did not mean he accomplished everything he wanted to do. think of the governing philosophy that reagan brought to washington. that odd -- that attitude still dominates the attitude which is a distrust in institutions and a to federal government. here we are with trump.

there is instability in our politics. for democrats looking at the results in november like it is with many parties when they lose an election, doom and gloom and we will never get the white house back. we have lost the judiciary for a generation and that is probably true. what will we do with congress, it is one party rule. we are seeing a lot of instability, not unlike the 1960's but with a different set of circumstances where we are seeing donald trump and joe biden was a one term president. control of congress shifts every back in -- continues to shift back and forth every few years and we will see that instability because of the american people are not loyal to parties the way they used to be. the two major political parties are hollow items. there is not a lot of institutional loyalty relative to the past. so people were confounded to how donald trump who says a lot of nasty and racist things about immigrants about poisoning the

blood of the country environment, how did he also grow his share of the latino and african-american vote? he is able and has this gift he is not an ideologue that he has a political gift of offering all things to all people. it does not fall and the old piety has been upended. it does not fall on the conservative versus liberal. he is certainly a republican with tax cuts and deregulation. he has in this point of history where we are moving into this new period, where there is not loyalty to one side or the other at least among the vital part of the electorate that seems to decide the election every four years. those states have seen the most significant or severe changes in their political economy in the age of globalization post-1991. host: we will bring the audience into the conversation and start with stephen in illinois. line for independents, good morning. caller: good morning.

let me turn -- excuse me. guest: hello. caller: i have an observation. any time that jimmy carter is mentioned for the carter administration, almost always the first topic and issue is the hostage crisis in iran. i would point out that zero american lives were lost in the hostage crisis. i would also point out that in the four years of his administration there was no member of the american military lost in combat, or killed. in 1983 when ronald reagan was president, 241 marines were

killed in their barracks in beirut, lebanon because of a car bomb. a truck bomb. and there had been warnings before and a previous car bomb last that killed some marines and this, that and the other. guest: the cia station was blown to smithereens and bob ames was killed. caller: i could not remember exactly what had happened. very rarely when the reagan administration and ronald reagan is discussed are those issues ever brought up. i think that is interesting and i pass that along and you have an explanation as to why i believe my observation is correct? guest: you would be the best one to explain that but you are hitting on something that is important and that is the difference between history and memory. the caller is correct.

to use a sports analogy, when the team is coded -- is doing well the quarterback gets too much credit and when it does poorly the quarterback gets the blame. there were no scandals during the carter administration. these things did not stick to reagan's reputation mostly because he was not directly implicated in the worst parts of the iran contra scandal because he was so out of touch and his administration on what his underlings were doing. that is not necessarily a good thing. carter was a micromanager and reagan was not. reagan was good at setting the overall vision and then a delegator that responded to

trouble. iran contra being one example. not to digress. i will give you -- i think it is best illustrated by example the point. jimmy carter passed two men energy -- major energy packages when he was president. energy was a huge issue indirectly related to inflation which brought on a recession when paul volker had to raise interest rates to tall -- to tame inflation. it caused a recession during the campaign year so political but -- so political pain for making the right move. his energy packages and deregulation of oil and natural gases would lead to a large increase in the supply of energy in the 1980's and carter was no longer around to see the benefit of that. when he came into office in 1976, the united states and i credit historian robert strong for pointing it out at the miller center. themillercenter.org for american

presidential industry. the united states was consuming one fourth of all opec oil production and that went down significantly and the increase -- and the united states would increase its oil production between 1980 and 1985 by one million barrels a day. who gets the credit for that, ronald reagan or jimmy carter? i would say jimmy carter. we seem not to remember some of his positives. we accentuate his negatives. why that happens it is hard to say. i mention the timing and lock and that has a lot to do with it. the country was not in good shape when carter ran for reelection and he had kind of lost his touch with the american people. where's than that he looked like he had lost control of finding solutions to any problem that had beset his administration including the iran hostage crisis. i note this is a long answer. but i want to touch on one last point. it is true that no americans were killed, however.

had the rescue attempt not been a fiasco in the deserts of iran, it is possible that americans would have died. i think we all remember two u.s. aircraft collided in the desert when they were refueling on the way to save the hostages and eight american service members were killed. it was a low point. host: when we look at presidential legacies and what they are remembered or not remembered for, carter is not the only one. how have other presidencies shifted over time? guest: harry truman was unpopular when he left office. there was enormous amounts of corruption though not tied to him. i think he has looked at more positively because he stewarded the country during the early years of the cold war. i will give you another example of a president, carter is one

and there has been some more positive books and biographies. i think when people closely look at reagan's presidency it does not look as good as it did even 10 to 15 years ago. that same goes for bill clinton. the prosperity of the 1990's according to nelson, was been a frequent guest on my show talking about the transformation of american capitalism and the optimism and the wonder is high tech tomorrow that was on the way, a lot of that was built on sand. i think many of the callers can relate to that, especially if they are in the rust belt and the deindustrialized part of the country where nothing really replace the industry's that left her went out of business. host: tom in florida. line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. since the failure of the carter

administration was policies, you would think the democrats would learn from past mistakes, for example the energy crisis, instead of getting the oil from venezuela and borrowing and begging and pleading for venezuela oriel we have our own liquid gold. you think joe biden would learn a lesson, especially with the energy crisis and the long gas lines in the oil embargo. you think joe biden would have learned from that. you would also think with affirmative action and policies like that, today, the dei and all you would be worried about the people who are competent and able to do the job instead of worrying about ethnic background or skin color. it is clearly that the democrat party is no longer the party of my grandfather and great-grandfather. it has gone so far to the left

that americans cannot recognize what it used to be and now see it for what it is, dei and the restrictions on petroleum and other energy sources, and now with this other mess with the transgendered nonsense, forcing kids to take these hormone pills. it has gotten ridiculous. it has been hijacked so far to the left. host: we will get a response. guest: i agree with one thing. the democratic party is no longer recognizable to their fathers and grandfathers. some of that might be for reasons that i disagree with the caller. i think we have become enormous -- a more diverse country and we should embrace that. dei has gone too far and some of these social issues. james have criticized the party as going too far and out of touch with normal people. the united states is helping

produce more oil than any part of our history so i do not think that was correct. host: bill in wisconsin. line for independents, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a little anecdote that people do not remember or realize or it never came up. ronald reagan was responsible for when challenger went up and blew up a minute and a half later. you have to excuse me for being a little nervous. the guy responsible for the launches fought hard but said he did not fight hard enough to keep it from launching because the weather in florida was freezing cold below 30 degrees and everybody said they should not launch they did not because it would be too risky. ronald reagan came up and said put it up for the gipper. his ego killed those guys and he wanted to talk to them for a photo op. guest: i'm sorry i did not mean

to interject. i just got through the marvelous biography of ronald reagan and based on that and other things i have read over the years about this, i do not believe that is accurate. i do not believe that ronald reagan is responsible for the challenger disaster. host: basil, cleveland, ohio. line for independent. caller: good morning. my concern for both parties is not who is running the country, but the federal reserve bank controls what goes on. and the onus of the federal reserve bank. i wonder if donald trump will do anything in regards to the money business going on in america and how it is being controlled by the money system instead of the political system. thank you. guest: he has a decision coming up with jerome powell. the federal reserve is supposed to be independent and a lot of people say it is too unaccountable. but the federal reserve board

and who the president appoints is enormously important. we know this from jenny carter's -- jimmy carter's presidency. jimmy voelker shame -- tamed inflation under reagan's first term when interest rates were allowed to beat inflation because inflation as joe biden and kamala harris would relate is an incumbent killer. when voelker did this itunemploo 10%. interest rates were somewhere around 17% in reagan's first term. once inflation was defeated, interest rates came down and the business cycle recovered in time for the reelection campaign. jimmy carter did not have that good luck. as far as jerome powell has handled the federal reserve, i'm not an expert. he has gotten mixed reviews from people who know more about this than i do. whether or not the fed acted

soon enough to tame inflation, that debate will continue. monetary policy was too accommodating for too long which helped lead to the inflation we got after the pandemic. i think that had to do with the economic distortions caused by the pandemic in supply and demand. host: in terms of the economy, trade policy and potential for tariffs, some people will likely be hearing more about that in the coming year. it is a topic you covered last year in one of your episodes. explain what you call economic nationalism and his history in the u.s. guest: the united states used to be a high tariff country. it's been a while since the great depression and the post-world war ii period when free-trade became the conventional wisdom. economic nationalism. protectionist tariffs. they cannot be too high because then you will not get revenue from the tariffs when people

stop buying goods. protectionist tariffs. in 19th century, it was to protect certain industries. libertarians have called that rent seeking. they will lobby for this tariff or that tariff because of what they want protected. and rejection of immigration as part of economic nationalism. there is a number of intellectuals in our country that call themselves the national conservatives who are bringing back the idea of high tariffs and lower levels of immigration. i don't know if jd vance considers himself a national conservative but he has spoken about this a lot. by limiting or cutting the number of -- also deporting people in this country illegally and raising minimum wages. i'm taking the straight from what jd vance told the new york times this past summer.

you would be able to get an american, native american, nativeborn american a job at mcdonald's if you pay them a little bit more and the job does not go to an immigrant. that is kind of in a nutshell what i would call economic nationalism. i don't know if economic nationalism, especially when you are the number one economy in the world, that is something they would take. it's often called managed trade. that is what japan was doing in the 1980's. u.s. administrations tried to break the national needs -- the japanese market and they were not allowed to. we are looking at supply-chain capitalism. how not sure donald trump's ideas, if he chooses to momentum, really work. it could be quite damaging. they could cause shortages and higher prices even though he says that will not happen. he's economically illiterate,

donald trump is. host: kiki on the line for democrats. caller: happy new year. a few comments on some of the callers. one regarding the price of oil and gas. it was because of covid that people stop driving and the oil companies stopped producing, which led to higher prices. when people started driving again, congress asked the oil companies if they could increase their drilling, which would increase supply and technically lower the price and the companies said no. we don't want to hurt the profits for shareholders. that is one reason we had height we will prices. the other was a question. the united states produces the most amount of oil, as your guest stated, but i thought they sold a lot to europe because they can get a higher price. one last thing. the issue of transgender. most people who have negative

comments talk about transgender because they don't understand it is a legitimate medical condition of gender dysphoria. thank you very much. guest: the transgender issue is not when i spent a lot of time discussing on my podcast. i think all people deserve respect and dignity. the issues concerning treatment for children, minors, that is a thorny one. i'm not in a position to comment on that with any level of expertise. the oil market is really misunderstood. i'm no expert either. what the united states should do and how the price of gasoline is arrived at. the -- derived debt. it is one part of that market, producing more. the other part produces less. we are dealing with a cartel, opec, that fixes both supply and price. it is complicated.

most people including myself have difficulty explaining it or understanding how the price of oil is determined. it is not as simple as the united states drills more, pump more out of the ground, etc. the oil needs a market. you don't to have a glut of oil either. host: let's hear from mark in annapolis, maryland, the line for republicans. caller: good morning. merry christmas and happy new year. best wishes for success, health, prosperity and peace here and abroad. i had a quick couple of points. a great panel, by the way. on the statement about the u.s. being the biggest producer of oil in history -- guest: ken our history, yes. -- in our history, yes.

caller: when you go back to the victorian era and the discovery of oil in pennsylvania and the production, infinitely greater in terms of our production and our sources and uses of that domestic supply. you look at the navy and the military, sprawling complex that is managed for procuring oil and refined oil from around the world from various suppliers, some of which are allies and others are maybe pseudo-allies. we are definitely not supplying our military u.s.-produced a whale on -- oil on u.s. shores unequivocally. secondly, on tariffs. we have had a string of hacks from chinese supported and

non-state-supported actors over the last 30 years, if not more. you look at the opn breach shortly after apple was allowed to be used as the byod or dod. 30 million records were breached. you look at the last couple of days ago, the treasury breach. everything in between. we have a massive supply-chain problem. we have a friend in india and we cannot act any faster than saying -- the answer should be no for every american and every single ally. it is just that simple. we need to come to grips. you mentioned the supply chain and the global interdependency. no question, but we have alternatives and u.s. alternatives, mexican

alternatives, usmca alternatives , across the caribbean. it is not a free-trade environment. if anyone think the latter, you know, there are a fool -- they are a full. -- fool. guest: not all countries operate -- it is often called unfair trade. we want fair trade, not free-trade. he is right about china's practices. when it comes to the supply chain, things take time to reverse. the chips act hunter biden -- under biden, that is making a dent. producing more semiconductors inside the united states because of the volatility between china and taiwan. one of the most important companies in the world is taiwan semiconductor. the notion that because of the global interdependency of the

economies and financial system and supply chains, that's an incentive to avoid hostility. history shows that is not always work. wars and conflicts can break out. trade wars can break out even though we rely on each other. i think the caller made some good points. i guess i don't feel like -- host: they like to throw a lot at you. we have a couple of minutes left. we will see how many more colors we can get to. turk in illinois on the line for democrats. caller: hi. a joyful new year to all of us. gosh, that guy stole the rest of the callers' thunder. there's a great book out there, "it can't happen here" bison y sinclair lewis. he talked about the discontent in the country. human beings that are discontent.

i have been an electrician my entire career of more than 40 years. most of my friends are craftsmen also. i have led a pretty good life. i could go in vacation for two weeks a year anywhere in the world. most of my friends are too. half of them turned into trumpers. my craftsman buddies. could you speak to the people who are discontent in this country? guest: let me ask you, for you and a union? caller: of course i have been an auto worker at the end of my career. a paperwork or. i started -- paper worker. i started in a basic steel producer on the southeast side of lake michigan. guest: were you in a union, a union hall? caller: the union is in my blood. i grew up in the rust belt. could you speak to the discontent?

i was at a graduation party this summer with an 80-year-old fellow. he was a trumper. i asked this guy, do you know anybody that is not doing ok? he thought a minute and the guy said myself. i looked at him. he was just nice. he had a beautiful wife the same age. she had a beautiful -- she had beautiful jewelry on and a nice car and he was feeling good. he said he was one of those types. host: we will get a response. guest: how much time do we have left? host: we have the time. guest: to my earlier point -- thank you for the call and sharing. the reason i wanted to know about the union hall, someone wrote a book about the decline of union hall politics. the disconnect and breach between the democratic party and blue-collar workers over the

past 30, 40, 50 years. deindustrialization was happening long before the 1990's and nafta and the wto. -- world trade organization. she went to the parking lots, the ones that are left, in western pennsylvania. in prior generations you would see bumper stickers about the union and democratic politics, whatever may have been in the union hall newspaper that week. you are now seeing it replaced by trump stickers, the nra, the churches. voids are filled. to make a long story short, there has been a shift from blue-collar workers away from democratic politics and the author of the book try to illustrate this with the change in the bumper stickers she saw and the union hall parking lots towards more conservative

republican leaning institutions, because, as an earlier caller said, the democratic party is no longer recognizable, the coalition used to have blue-collar workers that were more economically liberal. socially conservative. the democratic party has lost touch with those voters. you can't sneer at people because they don't share the same values as you do. the democratic party has become what the republican party used to be stereotyped as. highly educated white color working-class. that is no one of the main pillars of the democratic party. -- now one of the main pillars of the democratic party. i hope i'm explaining this as well as i can. there's a book out i would recommend to people if you want to take in these ideas, "the fabulous failure" by nelson lichtenstein. host: time for one last call.

marlene in minnesota on the line for independence. -- independents. caller: i don't know if you can answer my question or not. guest: neither do i. caller: i am wondering, when did all of this heavy pork start coming into our bills that are supposed to be for the american people? millions and billions of dollars that they pass in these 1500 page bills, 3000 page bills that pelosi wrote and said just sign it, you can read it later. when did that start happening that this became unaware to the american people? guest: 1789. congress did do away with earmarks some years ago. that's an enormous question. not all of this is negative. that is what lobbying and the

first amendment is for. not to give a flippant answer, powerful interests are able to stuff bills with whatever they want. until congress gets back to doing business like it used to, having hearings and fully vetting these things instead of just signing it and reading it later. i can't give you a better answer to that. that's in a norm is subject to tackle in a short period of time. host: martin di caro, host of "history as it happens." you can find his work online at historyasithappens.com. thank you for being with us today. a lot of topics we got through. next on washington journal, the university of north texas at dallas political science professor orlando perez will discuss the history of the panama canal. we will be right back. ♪

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unfiltered. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us now to discuss the history of the panel can now is university of north texas at dallas political sense professor orlando perez. thank you for being with us today. guest: thank you for having me. it is a pleasure. host: we will start with just the basics. we have heard about the panama canal the past few weeks. provide our audience what the canal is and why it was or is important to the u.s. guest: sure. the panama canal is one of the most important inter-oceanic waterways in the world. about 5% of global cargo commerce passes through the canal on a yearly basis.

but for the united states, it is over 40% of our container shipments passing through the canal and about 70% of canal traffic is from the united states. we are the leading users of the canal. particularly it's important for trade between the eastern seaboard ports and the west. it cuts down about 7000 miles of shipping distance when you traverse the canal to go from the east coast to the west coast. in terms of shipping and global commerce, the canal is a very important and perhaps the most important interoceanic waterway.

we have to go back in history to understand the importance of the canal to the world and to the united states. the idea of an interoceanic canal in panama really dates back to the spanish empire, back to the 16th century. the spaniards had visions of building a canal. it was technologically impossible back in the 16th century. the spaniards built a system whereby their gold laden galleons from south america would port in the pacific side of the is myth -- ismuth and transport the gold via land in

initially via mule laden cargo to the atlantic side of the ismuth. it's about a 51 mile distance from the pacific at the shortest point from the pacific to the atlantic. they would transport -- they would transfer the cargo, mostly gold and silver, onto galleons and transport them first to cuba and then to spain. the ismuth of panama and the graphic location of the isthmus had been a key component of global trade for hundreds of years. in the 1850's, the gold rush in

california led the united states to begin to get an interest in the canal route. initially, panama at that point was part of columbia. the united states work that a deal with columbia at the time in the 1850's and 1860's to build a railroad that connected again panama city on the pacific side with the largest city on the event excited, colon. that railroad was instrumental in transporting people and transporting cargo from the pacific -- from the west coast to the east coast of the united states and vice versa.

in the late 19th century, the 1880's, 1870's and 1880's, the french were involved in an attempt to build a canal through the isthmus of panama. that effort failed because of disease, because of corruption, because of technology and because of the way that the french wanted to build the canal. they wanted to duplicate their success in egypt in the suez canal, which is a c level canal. -- sea level canal. that type is not possible in panama because of geography and the qandil divide -- continental divide. inefficiency, the wrong planning and corruption led to the failure of the french effort. that is then -- that then at the

beginning of the 20th century, after the spanish-american war, the success of the united states in the war led the united states to then enter the process of trying to negotiate the rights to build a canal. there -- for teddy roosevelt, the canal became an important part of his international policy. the united states had at the turn-othe-century become a jor mobile power -- global power. the notion of a two-ocean navy, having the ability to traverse the distances between the atlantic and pacific for military purposes were key.

the united states was able to reach an agreement with columbia to build a canal, but the colombian senate failed to approve that treaty. it was at that point united states aidedn the independence of panama and subsequent to that, and we c get into more details about th process, subsequent to that signed the treaty that gave the united states the rights to build a canal for panama. at that point in perpetuity. host: the u.s. did have a major role in construction of the canal and then had control of the canal for several decades

until a couple of trees were signed, the neutrality treaty and panama canal treaty. what did those treaties say and why were there two separate treaties signed? guest: the united states began the construction of the canal in 1904. it opened in 1914. as i said, the rights of the united states where -- were guaranteed in perpetuity in the so-called treaty of 1904. it's important to note that hay in the treaty is john hay, then secretary of state of the united states. philippe bonilla was a frenchman

who had worked on the french canal and had acquired the rights to the equipment of the french canal company in panama and had been assigned by panama as the negotiator of the tree. it is a -- treaty. it is a treaty -- panamanians are keen to remind people of this -- a treaty that no panamanian signed. that treaty generated a great deal of consternation and opposition in panama to many of its provisions. panamanians for the rest of the 20th century have sought to change that treaty and to gain greater access to the canal. the treaty allowed the united states to control what became known as the canal zone, a 10

mile wide, 50 mile long stretch of panamanian territory to build the canal, and the united states built a military and civilian infrastructure around the building, the administration, management, and protection of the canal. throughout the 20th century, the panamanians had sought to change that treaty. shot -- sought to change the treaty. by the 1960's, the issue of national sovereignty over the canal was critical to panamanians. and in 1964, roughly january of

1964, there was a significant level of protest and violence in the canal zone about 20 panamanians died from the protest and the reaction to the protest. panamanians had sought to raise the panamanian flag over a section of the panama canal zone. the canal zone, specifically over a high school in the canal zone. they were repressed by u.s. military personnel and police. and in the scuffle again about 20 panamanians died and about for u.s. soldiers died, and that

incident led to the start of serious negotiations to revive the canal tree she and to revise the treaty that gave the united states the rights to the canal zone in perpetuity. and that really started with lyndon johnson and continued with richard nixon and gerald ford. but, the problem was that there was significant opposition in the united states to giving back the canal. and, in panama in 1968 there was a military coup that brought to power a general, a military dictatorship and so, there was concern in the early 70's really

that making a treaty ordeal for the revision with a military dictatorship was not in the interest of the united states. by the time that president carter came to power in 1977, those negotiations had advanced significantly, and i think that carter generally in his own policies and engagement with latin america wanted to really change the narrative of our relations with the region. he wanted to emphasize human rights. not just in latin america but across the world. and i think the notion for many

in the carter administration and many scholars and many political figures in the united states was that a new treaty was necessary to change the nature of our engagement, not just with panama but also for the rest of latin america. and those negotiations were not easy. but, they led to as you mentioned the two treaties. host: i'm going to hop in because i want to make sure that the callers have the numbers to call in so they can join the conversation as well. we are opening those phone lines. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. and independents, 202-748-8002.

our guest is orlando perez, a political science professor at the university of texas at dallas. our discussion is on the history of the panama canal. and professor perez, apologies for jumping in, you are talking about the treaties and what they allow us to do and please continue. guest: yes. as i was saying. and please, interrupt me whenever you feel the need to do that. i can get carried away with the narrative here. so, two treaties, one the panama canal treaty and the other one the neutrality treaty. the panama canal treaty set up a process by which the united states would eventually by december 31, 1999, turned over control of the panama canal. management of the canal to panama.

this was a process that took about 20 years, gradually turning over pieces and areas of the canal zone to panamanian management until ultimately on december 31, 1991 -- 1999, panama received the management of the canal. the neutrality treaty was a separate treaty by which the panamanians committed themselves to maintaining of kent the panama canal as a neutral waterway, not favoring any particular country or particular international power. or actor. to treat every user of the canal equally and this has become an

issue recently with the president-elect's comments on the panama canal. the neutrality treaty also gives the united states the right to intervene in the canal if that neutrality is jeopardized. so, the reason two canal treaties were done instead of one, my understanding is that it had to do with the best way to get this entire process through the united states senate. it was not an easy process. the treaties were ratified by two thirds of the u.s. senate in 1978 and went into effect in 1979. and they were effectively implemented by december 31, 1999. host: our guest is orlando perez

and are discussion is on the history of the panama canal. the first collar is from california on the line for democrats. caller: i just want to make it clear, i am a native panamanian and i was born in this country and came here in 1963 has a nine-year-old. i am a citizen. 22 year military veteran and everything. what is misleading is what he is saying about the united states having the panama canal in perpetuity. it was a 99 year lease. ok. and that is what is misleading because that will hype the craziness from our fearless leader now. it wasn't theirs to take back. yes, the canal zone was american.

it was actually governed by louisiana law with all of the jim crow trappings of gold and silver fountains and the only reason there was a large number of black employees was because they spoke english. and that in itself became divisive with the american-hispanic public. so this issue about we are going to take it back, it was not yours to take back. you did the construction, but you have no sovereignty now over that land. host: professor, your response? guest: i agree totally. the question of whether it was perpetuity or 99 years, that has been a controversial issue and it has to do with the translation from english to spanish and spanish to english

of the initial treaty. i agree with roy. the treaty itself said literally that the united states would act as if it was solver in. but the implicate -- sovereign. but the implication is that the sovereignty remained with, fundamentally, with the panamanians. i also agree that the canal was built mostly by black labor from the afro-caribbean region. and from imported labor from other parts of again, the cabbn and latin america. and s i totally agree with roy that indeed, sovereignty rested with the panamanians. and that any discussion of

sovereignty and any discussion of returning the canal back to the united states management is counterproductive to our relations with not just panama, but with latin america in general. and, i think that if the aim of this discussion is to bully the panamanians to move away from chinese investments and chinese engagement in the region, i honestly believe it is counterproductive. and it will not readily succeed. host: let us hear from tina,

alabama. line for republicans. good morning. caller: thank you. nice job. i lived 22 years there. my father was a civil engineer who maintained government contracts. the panamanians and americans got along great and the influence of america in panama created a no other class that no other central american country enjoys. panama had 130 seven bank charters when i was down there. in 1962 with the cuban missile crisis it was cuba and russia who sent a lot of instigators down for the riots, and that happen throughout central america and i would encourage you to look into that. i encourage you to take the topic on. guest: thank you very much. host: let us hear from sean in blacksburg, new york.

line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: hello. how are you doing today? guest: i am all right. caller: just a bounce off the woman who was just on and it sounds like she has a tremendous amount of background. i mean, my dad was navy and he spent time in panama and was stationed. what is your take on the chinese influence in that area and what would you say, you know, the fact that we build the infrastructure. i do get the sovereignty aspect and that is a sovereign nation. so what would be your -- i am getting the impression that you do not appreciate what president trump is trying to do and you call it bullying. what is the best option? guest: well, look.

there is no question that the chinese are strategic competitors to the united states. and the chinese engagement in latin america specifically has not been helpful in terms of democratization and in terms of dealing with some authoritarian, rogue regimes such as in venezuela, nicaragua and cuba, specifically. the fact is that chinese engagement in those three countries has -- chinese and russia engagements in those three countries have allowed those three countries to the warts sanctions and policies to try to democratize those

countries and move them in a democratic way. chinese investments in the region is significant. but chinese investment in the region is a double-edged hold dashboard. we heard a chinese automobile maker that vested in brazil, for example being accused of using slave labor. and the fact is that a lot of chinese investment and infrastructure in the region does not treat workers in a way that we would want workers to be treated. they pay very little and they use slave labor conditions and those infrastructures. so, chinese investments is important in many countries because of the money and

resources and the jobs that they produce that they are a double-edged sword. china is a strategic competitor. in panama, since 2017, panama switched their relationships from taiwan to the prc, people's republic of china. china has made significant investments, particularly in port infrastructure at either end of the panama canal. and so, you know, i do not underestimate the challenge that china poses to the united states in the region. i just think that this issue of panama sovereignty over the panama canal is existential for the panamanians.

this is critical for their own national identity. and i do use the word bullying because that is a tactic that unfortunately the president elect tends to want to use. in trying to negotiate with international partners. and i think in this case it is going to be counterproductive. i think there is a better way of dealing with this. that is to deal with panama on a narrative of friendship. and mutual cooperation. after all, panama has a government that is friendly to the united states. their president as a conservative and pro-u.s.. the panamanians are generally pro-u.s..

panama is critical to the migration issue, which is so central to the united states and president-elect. the gap has been a full -- a source of migrant transit, hundreds of thousands of migrants transiting from south carolina and from the rep -- south america and the rest of the world and cooperation from panama on that issue is essential. and i do not think it creates goodwill with the panamanians who are inclined to be pro-american to begin with to say that they are cheating the united states when they impose holes first -- tolls on ships passing through the canal or that sovereignty over the panama canal should be transferred to the united states because the

panamanians are corrupt or have corruptly managed the canal. there is no such evidence. panama has managed the canal efficiently and without corruption for the past 25 years. it is an exemplary process of canal management. and i think that you would -- if we want to deal with the china threat we have to engage not just panama but the rest of latin america in a positive and constructive way. host: let us hear from i -- larry in southport, north carolina. republican. caller: how are you doing? host: well. caller: i have a question for the gentleman and a lot of america's died building the -- americans died building the

cattle -- panama canal and a lot of money was put into building it. that is neither here nor there. i picked up on one thing. immigration through the panama canal. that is 40 something thousand national chinese. that is reason alone for the united states to take control to cut down of all of these migrants that immigrate and cross to that country. thank you. guest: well, you know there is no question that some americans died in the building of the canal. initially there was disease, malaria and yellow fever was rampan until the mosquito was -- and hygiene processes were established during the bldg of the canal.

the figure of 38,000 has mandated about and that it -- has been bandied about and that is incorrect. i will not minime y death but that is incorrect which lumps together the deathotals during the french construction whh was about 20 to 22,000 and the u.s. construction which was about 5600. most of those death fnkly, were workers, regularorrs which were not americans. there was a segregation system inhe canal zone and in the building of a. where the management and the engineers and etc. were u.s. and most of the actual workers that

dug the canal and etc. were foreign or panamanian. i do not want to minimize the death total. it was significant and terrible. and the investment was significant for the time. the issue of migration, you know , migration is not so much an issue of the panama canal. they are not coming through the panama canal necessarily. they are coming through the area that borders panama and columbia. and that area certainly is part of panama and panama's security forces are doing everything possible to minimize that migration flow. they are working with the united states. the curtain -- the current

administration in panama has signed a memorandum of understanding with the biden administration to help with deportation processes of a lot of those migrants back to their country and that office has accelerated in the last few months. the president has indicated that he wants to work with the trump administration in stopping, minimizing that migrant flow. it is in the interest of panama to do so. and i think engagement on the migration issue has nothing to do with the issue of the management of the panama canal. and we really should separate those two issues completely. host: steve in ohio. line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes. guest: yes. caller: i do not believe that

there is anything besides trump bullying another country yet. the real reason that from is -- trump is pissed is because they lost his money laundering operation by closing the hotel and casino in panama. that is a. thank you. host: do you have any response? guest: no. host: abraham in virginia. line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. my problem is that if panama treats all countries and all ships the same as far as taxes for them going through the panama canal, then why is it that president trump has a problem with the way that the united states is being taxed?

given that everything is equal like mr. perez is saying, then why would president trump have a problem with it? that is my question. guest: i suppose the president-elect should be asked that question. and that is a question that is better asked him. i will say that the neutrality treaty and the way that the tolls, not the tax, that are imposed on shipping companies. they are not imposed on countries but the company is. most of the shipping companies are not american, by the way. the largest are either european, and there are a couple of chinese shipping companies. most of them, the large ones, are not americans. those tolls are applied based on

a formula that has to do with what they are shipping, the weight of the ship, the size of the ship, the market conditions, right? whether you have to increase passageways or decrease passageways relative to the water supply in the panama canal. it is a very technical process. and why the president -- the president-elect is concerned about the tolls? i am not entirely sure. they are applied technically, objectively, and to every single shipping company that passes through the canals equally. they have to. and based on the neutrality

treaty, the panamanians have to treat -- have to treat every user the same. host: the last call in this segment is from maryland. line for independents. good morning. caller: i am privileged to speak with the professor. i think there is something wrong with the thinking. they think when they are in power they can impose anything of theirs on anybody whether you are weak or strong and it does not matter. ronald reagan when i was a student would say we built the canal and we are going to keep it. very arrogant. and then donald trump just came in here and he is already talking that kind of language. can we find some ways to get through this belligerency and

can we find some ways to talk peacefully and live harmoniously in our world with the respect for the various elements in the planet? guest: that is a great point. and i think that we are today, that will be the beginning of the state funeral for the late president carter. and i think president carter is a great example of how you can engage the world with a different narrative. and a different dialogue in terms of human rights and respect. and i tend to agree with the caller. the united states needs to engage with the world from the perspective of seeking common ground, and building alliances,

not tearing them down. on panama, i think the canal treaties have been a success and i think the transfer of the canal to pamela -- to panama has been one of the most successful treaties in -- between the united states and latin america, certainly. the panamanians have done an exemplary job of managing the canal. and i think for our own interests in building relationships with the region and for our own interest in migration issues and economic development issues and promoting democracy and security in the region, i think that engaging in dialogue and finding common ground and respect. respecting the other side and

their perspective, i think that is the best way to proceed in this world where frankly, u.s. leverage in the region has declined. especially in the past few years in the last decades really. we can no longer bandy about the u.s. military in the region. not like we did in a few decades ago. the world has changed and we need to recognize that change. host: our guest, professor orlando perez at the university of north texas at dallas. a political science professor. thank you for your time and this discussion. guest: thank you for the opportunity to engage with your listeners. host: that wraps up that portion of our program. president jimmy carter's state funeral does begin today. this is a live look at the phoeb

e sumter medical center in georgia. the corridors family is expected to arrive at about 10:15 a.m. and when we come back we will talk with bernie saugus of the " atlanta journal-constitution" about president carter who passed away last sunday at the age of 100 and what he meant to the state of georgia. we will hear your thoughts on the life and legacy of president carter. you can start calling it now. eastern and central, 202-748-8000. mountain or pacific, 202-748-8001. we will be right back. ♪

>> american history tv saturdays on c-span two, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. this weekend at 4:45 p.m. eastern, house speaker mike johnson commemorates the marquis de lafayette's address to congress on december 10 1784. and then we tour the sites that the marquis visited. and the lead up to inauguration day as american history tv looks back at famous speeches. this weekend speeches by john kennedy in 1961, lyndon johnson in 1965 and richard nixon in 1969. and on the presidency, the book "mr. churchill in the white house," shares at the british prime minister was more than a houseguest during his lengthy visits to the white house during

the presidencies of franklin roosevelt and dwight eisenhower. he draws on letters, diaries, government documents and memoirs to tell the story of winston churchill and the two presidents. exploring the american story, watch american history tv saturdays on c-span two and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> booktv every sunday on c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction book. here's a look at what is coming up. at 5:00 p.m. eastern, the stanford institute for artificial intelligence fellow who served as a european parliament miniver talks about regulating the tech industry in "the teco." at 6:15, he recalls his journeys

to senegal, south carolina and palestine and reflects on how the stories we tell shape our reality in "the message." and then, mark green author of " we before me" talks about division and the advantages of putting others before self and he is interviewed by leo shane. watch booktv every sunday on c-span2, and find a full schedule on your program guide or at booktv.org. democracy, it is not just an idea but a process, shaped by leaders, elected to the highest office and entrusted to a select few regarding its basic principles. it is where debates unfold, decisions are made and the courses charted. democracy in real-time, this is

your government at work. this is c-span, giving you your democracy unfiltered. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back. washington journal will be on the air until about 11:00. it is the president carter state funeral beginning today and we are bringing you some live shots of those events as they begin in georgia and i wanted to remind our audience that you can call in and discuss the life and legacy of president carter. the lines again are 202-748-8000 if you are eastern or central. and 202-748-8001 if you are mountain and pacific. and it is president carter who died on sunday december 29 at

the age of 100. here are some of the events that will be happening and services leading up to his burial. today the family is traveling throughout georgia in a motorcade stops at his home town plains, georgia and in atlanta for the state funeral that will be held at the carter center. joining us now to discuss what president carter meant to georgia, his home state is bernie suggs, welcome to the program. guest: thank you very much and it is a pleasure to be here. host: as you noted there is going to be several days of remembrance of president carter in his home state of jerry -- of georgia. talk about what president carter meant to the state. guest: everything. he is arguably with martin luther king jr., the state's favorite son.

he lived to be 100 years old and is the oldest serving president of the united states. that all mean something to those of us who live and grew up in georgia. he grew up in plains, georgia and we all know the legacy of who he was and how he grew up and he rose out of the small town. it was a very tiny town. he rose out of that tiny town. and rose to this global ambassador that we know would love and it is an incredible story. when you put all of that together and you look at -- look at him as a georgian. georgia, planes, and the world is mourning the loss of a great georgian. host: you covered president carter for many years. what personal recollection you have a president carter? guest: first, if you look behind me, he wrote the forward to my

book "the many lives of andrew young," who was the first black man to serve as the um ambassador to the united nations. he has a lot of residents. i grew up in brooklyn, new york. my mother voted for jimmy carter. i remember richard nixon and i remember gerald ford but in the abstract. i remember jimmy carter and that was the first time in which i understood what the president of the united states was and what that position meant. he for me has always been the ideal of what a president of the united states is. when i moved to atlanta and when i started looking at "the atlanta journal-constitution" i would not say it is a dream come true that it was surreal that i was covering the former president of the united states. at that point he was working in the carter center which he founded to serve to extend

democracy across the country. it was always a pleasure to meet with them and talk to him and interview him. he was always open, i think, he was always truthful, i think. he was just a real person. and personally, i often talk to him about the fact that my mother introduced me to him as the entry point to conversations and say that my mother is the one that got me interested in what you do as president of the united states and i told him that story a thousand times. in the last time i saw him and talk to him i did not mention my mother and mentioned him and i said at that -- i said -- and he said how is your mother. and he said whatever i can do to help let me know and reminded me that the work that rosalynn carter was doing with mental health. he picked up the phone and had a conversation with her. that is a kind of personal story that i have but it is a personal story similar to those that have

been had all over the country for those who interacted with jimmy carter. that is my personal story but it is not unique because he has touched so many different people. host: as you mentioned you have fond memories of him as do many georgians and as to people across the country. your organization put out calls to readers asking them to share their stories as well, what did you learn that helped tell the story of president carter as a person? guest: yes. we have a series called man of the people where we probably you know, several prominent people passed away and when we reach out -- and when that happens we reach out to the community, especially those active. we did it for john lewis, hank aaron and now for jimmy carter. what we have is that there is such a rich library of photographs and stories from

georgians, where everyday people. everyone in plains have a jimmy carter story and anyone who has met him have a jimmy carter story. that is what we are gathering. what is consistent is his compassion, kindness and willingness to have a conversation whether it was brief or long. we have had these stories about how he mentioned to people that he learns of someone having a child and that person would go home in a week later they would get a letter in th mail or a gift in the mail from the president. or just kind of being invited to come to his church and saying or one of -- sing. plains is a very small town and everybody in the town knows him. and when you think the fact that he died at 100 years old every one in that small town has been influenced by him in some way.

if you go to anyone's house they have photographs and stories. it is not the standard canada photographs. these are taken from old polaroid cameras that are photo albums or selfies or whatever. everyone has a story. what we learned by gathering the stories although he was a president of the united states he was accessible and friendly. he was known around here as mr. jimmy. that is who he represented. and i think that is how he wanted to be represented. mr. jimmy, who lives in this community who happen to be a president of the united states of the america. host: you mentioned your mother and you got to know the president through her. how did your mom come to know president carter? guest: well, i mean it was the 1970's and we were coming out of watergate and the ford administration.

and i think she was part of this group of people. she was from north carolina although we were living in brooklyn. she was part of this group of young black people looking for something different. i think that jimmy carter represented that as a southerner and as a change in washington, d.c. and how the country was going. we all know that watergate was not a great time in the history so we needed the palate cleanser as a country. and i think she saw that jimmy carter represented that. that is why she got on board. she campaigned for him in new york city. i do not know how help -- how much help he needed in new york city. he -- he was always a big jimmy carter fan and thus i became a fan of a young age. of course, i have called third -- covered politicians and every

president as a reporter so you have to be objective. it is like the first baseball team or group that you loved as an eight-year-old. reggie jackson is not the greatest baseball player in the world but he will always be my favorite. i think that discovering jimmy carter at the age of eight years old has a special residence and that was given to me by my mother. host: you have written about president carter and growing up during the jim crow era. how did that time in our history shape his view of race relations? guest: tremendously and it could have shaped it in a different way. he was born in 1924 in south georgia. 1924 south georgia was deeply segregated. he lived on a farm. it is now owned by the national park service. he lived on a farm and everybody who worked on that farm was black.

as you can imagine his father was one of the most prominent persons in plains, so everyone who worked on the farm was black. but jimmy carter understood that all of his friends was black and the people that he looked up to and the adults who worked on the farm were black and they treated him with respect and thus he treated them with respect. there is a woman who lived on the farm that jimmy carter writes about eloquently that was one of the most important people in his life. when his parents would go out of town or when they needed to do something, they left jimmy carter in the care of this woman and this family. so he understood from a very early age and it translated into what he did as president and what he was doing after. diversity and that people are important regardless of what color or statue they are in life. in terms of poverty or wealth or

health or whatever or sexual orientation. he understood the importance and he learned that at an early age. when he ran for governor of georgia, you know with political expediency, he cared for his base. i think we can all admit that he catered to maddox's base. maddox was elected lieutenant governor and that is the at work. the first thing he did was tell lester maddox that i am the governor, things will run my way and he made a speech saying that the age of discrimination in georgia is over. so he immediately said -- set forth a pattern that south georgia -- this is how georgia is going to go. and this is how we are going to go forward. when he became governor he appointed more black people than any previous governor and when

he became president he appointed andrew young and patricia harris and put a lot of black people in positions. all of that comes out of being born in 1924 on a farm and growing up with black kids. host: "atlanta journal-constitution" reporter. thank you for your time and sharing those memories. guest: thank you for having me and i appreciate it. host: the state funeral for president carter does begin today. i wanted to share some events coming up later in the week. tuesday, the family travels to the u.s. capitol in washington where the former president will lie in state. the public will be invited to pay their respects starting at 7:00 p.m. that evening and president carter will lie in state at the u.s. capitol throughout wednesday. thursday at 9:30 a.m. his remains will be taken to

washington national cathedral for funeral services they are later in the day. and then he travels south and he will be buried at the carter family home in georgia. all of those events will be live on the c-span network. we will be live this morning until about 11:00 a.m., showing you the sights and sounds at the state funeral services for president carter. we will also be hearing your thoughts on his legacy. we are starting with gary in indiana. good morning. caller: good morning and peace out. i want to say first of all that i think god and i am proud to be able to say that jimmy carter was one time i president. and i think the 1980's what have been a better decade if him and walter mondale onward had been

the president instead of bush and reagan. jimmy carter did a lot of wonderful things like mr. suggs said. one thing he did not mention was his work at camp david and that is what got him the nobel peace prize. and economically, he was not the sound -- the most sound president unfortunately, and i mean that the most respectful way i can say that. as far as foreign policy, especially for a democrat. he was extremely good. i admired that about him. he was honest, upright and forthright individual. and he had a good moral heart. you know, he is probably the last president we even had that was decent like that. i cannot think of any blemishes on his legacy to speak of at all. and ever since then, ever since

carter i mean reagan and bush with iran-contra there has been one scandal after another from that point on. so long live the spirit of jimmy carter. and president carter, wherever you are out there and i know you are up there with the lord right now, i salute you. may we have another america like we once had with jimmy carter. peace out. host: gary in indiana. leo in arkansas. caller: it is really hard to come behind these people that just makes such a wonderful talk. volunteerism is one thing that i think that carter really put forward for us americans. also, it has always been hard for me back then to realize that there were southern men who possibly were raised as young

children who did not realize maybe that somebody was black or somebody was white. they would get to a certain age and all of a sudden people started telling them about -- anyway he talked -- he taught so much of us in the united states how to be open-minded. also i would like to say that i think he was under minded a little bit by ronald reagan. i had the feeling that ronald reagan made some political moves before he became president towards the iran contra affair. also, when they tried to rescue the embassy people, we must remember that the helicopters had the wrong filters on. that is why one of them crashed. it was not because jimmy carter was a peaceful man. it was because they put the wrong filters on and they got plugged up.

the helicopter crashed and then there was a backlash against this wonderful man. thank you very much. have a nice day. host: nelson in florida. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to send my condolences to the carter family. there were good things about jimmy carter. however, i am going to take an opposite perspective regarding his presidency. i voted for jimmy carter in 1976, hoping that we would have a better america and a new era. unfortunately, mr. carter turned out to be an extremely inapt and incompetent president. and i say that with all due respect. to his passing, and to his family. he did things that were hard to

believe. at one point he praised the shah of iran for being a great man. and then he later abandoned the shah so the ayatollah could take over iran. and to the point that the shah came to the united states to be treated for cancer and jimmy carter had him kicked out of the united states and the shah died of cancer in another country. i forget where. in a dan -- in addition, nicaragua was abandoned by the carter administration. that allowed the opposition to take over nicaragua which made the situation in central america much more explosive. and that added greatly to the communist insurrections that

were going on in those parts -- in that particular part of the world at that time. it came to the point where they were executing or assassinated by the regime. and today we steel -- we still have that regime around in part thanks to jimmy carter. the 1979 problem with the troll em coming into this country was caused in a large part by mr. carter, to the point where we had another oil embargo that took place. mr. carter was very weak in his dealing with five fide -- fidel castro to the point where it led to the boatlift.

i worked fire and rescue in the city of miami, and i can tell you that the city became a battleground of gangsters killing one another for months after mr. carter allowed that particular catastrophe to go on. so, for those that want to believe that jimmy carter was a great man and a great president, i will conclude that he was not a bad man but a terrible president. i will not even go into the hostage scenario. part of the problem regarding the helicopters was due in part to the fact that jimmy carter did not give to the military all of the things that they needed in order to maintain a strong country. that is all i wanted to say and thank you very much. host: nelson in florida.

cristiano also in florida from miami. good morning, luciano. caller: first, i disagree 100%. with what this guy was saying about the cuban refugees. i came in 1980 thanks to president jimmy carter who open the door of the united states to people like me. there were 5000 cubans who came to america and less than 5% of these refugees were really troubled people, people who had problems and made trouble in the united states. but, a sickly the crime -- basically the crime in miami in the 70's and 80's was because a

big part of the cuban-american community that were involved in illegal drugs trafficking and the colombian cartel. in 1987, i had the opportunity to visit the carter center and personally say thank you to president carter and his wife for giving me the opportunity to meet and to the cubans who believed in freedom and contributed to this great country. i do not have words to say thank you for president carter for the opportunity. thank you very much and the rest of you -- and rest in peace president cardo. -- carter. host: that is luciano sharing

his memory of meeting president carter and what he did for him as an immigrant in jiabao. president carter passed away last sunday at the age of 100. it was back in 1995 where he sat down for an interview with his book "always a reckoning and other poems." he was asked about the plans for his eventual funeral and here's a portion. [video clip] >> you have, i am trying to find it. a poem in here about probably too far in this book. but i will get you started on talking about it. it is a poem about the end of your life and a bunch of professors.

>> that is right. >> what is the point? >> that is one of them. we were trying to analyze the impact on the carter center and its relents -- its relationship with emory university when i was dead. and we got a group of scholars to analyze how the university would treat the carter center when i was no one there. they could not bring themselves to use any frank language about my being dead. so they finally derived a euphemism that my level of participation would be reduced. >> did you hear them talking about this? >> it came out in a written report to the president of the university. and they could not bring themselves to say when he passes

away or when he is gone or anything like that. >> you say "i now dead have recently reduced my level of precipitate -- a person -- of which is a patient." >> that is the euphemism they used. just a kid them i wrote the first version and sent it to them as a funny thing and i said this is an interesting concept and i will make a poem about it. >> this sketch by your granddaughter is i assume the carter family around your gravesite. >> is a preacher and part of a funeral ceremony. there are a lot of very nice things, pass on to a heavenly rewardor going to meet his maker no longer with us, or having passed away. these professors couldn't even bring themselves to say that i was going to pass away, meet my heavenly reward come or meet my maker.

just that my level of participation would be reduced. >> do you have to think about your eventual departure more than most people would? >> as a matter of fact, my wife and some of my staff did. they worked out complete funeral ceremony plans in advance. it was really inherited from what president ford has done. there are some things that you have to decide before the president's demise. before the former president's level of participation is reduced. there are a lot of plans that have to be made. i haven't been participating in it. i let my wife be the ultimate judge of what should be done. there is a professional staff associated -- i think with the marine corps -- who know the history of presidential funerals, processions, the display of the body, how much is

done within the capitol building and in different places. >> is your family, by the way, buried in plains, georgia? >> yes. my first ancestor was born in 1798 and roslyn's was born in 1787. since then, almost all of us have an born and died in plains. host: today is the first day of several that will honor and memorialize president jimmy carter. the state funeral getting underway in georgia before he makes his way to washington, d.c.. to give you an idea of what will be seen in 15 minutes or so, the carter family is expected to arrive at the medical sumter center in georgia at 10:15, the building on your screen. current and former special agents in charge from the u.s.

secret service, carter protection division, will carry president carter's remains and walk alongside the hearse as the motorcade departs from the medical center. it will travel to carter's hometown, a 15 minute drive, and his boyhood home for a brief pause in front of his family's farm. that is expected to happen at about 10:15. that's the family farm on your screen. during that pause, the national park service is going to render a salute to the late president and ring the historic farm bill 39 times. all of that is expected to start happening in the next 10 or 12 minutes. we are expecting to see the carter family arrive at the medical center in americus, georgia.

back to your calls. loretta in wilton, connecticut. good morning. caller: thank you for having me on the line. jimmy carter was a great president. we have had great presidents. ronald reagan was very good. the bush family was great. we have, right now, joe biden, who is a superman to handle everything he got when he came into office. we were blessed with these presidents. i want people to think, that are good and bad people in the world. these presidents are just doing the best they can at the time they have. we should be grateful for what we've had. i am not looking forward to the future, because, when i vote i vote for the person. i don't vote for a party. i pick out who will be the one to handle things the best for

our country. i love this country. when i was a little girl my grandmother asked me, who are you? i said, i am an american catholic. i was very proud of where i come from. the united states of america. i want people to know, let's stop putting people down and making mincemeat out of our country. we have the best country, and we don't want more trouble. joe biden is giving us peace and happiness and we should be so grateful for joe biden and what he has done in the last four years. thank you. host: that was loretta in connecticut. john in pennsylvania, good morning. caller: hello. i just wanted to remind people of a lesson about jimmy carter. he practically, single-handedly eradicated a disease that caused

blindness. down to 14 cases worldwide now. that is all i wanted to say. thank you. host: john in pennsylvania. edna in chicago, illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for having me on your show. i would like to say, i've always admired president carter. he went to washington as a christian. he left as a christian. there are two other people whom i very much admire. mitt romney went as a mormon and he still practices religion. president biden, you see him cross his heart. he is still a religious man. like johnson was a big disappointment in me that i've ever seen. he came to washington like he was holding a bible in his hand. he had only been there six month or less when he turned into a true trumpian.

good luck to him, because he's going to need it. but i want to say president carter, rest in peace. we love you. thank you. host: sal in new jersey. good morning. caller: yes, yes good. i would like to say, i think jimmy carter was a pathetic, lousy president. he blamed donald trump selection on russiagate on russian involvement. he wrote a book entitled "palestine peace not apartheid," equating israel with the palestinians. he wanted to recognize hamas. he met with fidel castro. he never condemned castro and the communist system in cuba. he even praised fidel castro's health-care system in cuba and he was a very naive man. he didn't know right from wrong. he was a good man.

i'm not saying that he was bad. he was ok. he tried to do good, but he was pathetically naive and a lousy president. host: sal in new jersey. bob in michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. you know, jimmy carter was a visionary. much of what he espoused as his philosophy has sort of come to pass, particularly environmentally and other areas. his attempt at trying to, you know, strike some kind of peaceful resolution in a region, the middle east, where they've been trying to do that for 3000 years and nobody has had any luck with that. like most visionaries, though, sometimes your vision doesn't come to pass until later on. i will say, the first two years of carter's presidency i was

working as a construction guy. i was a carpenter. we were making great money. all of a sudden, everything fell apart. i'm not sure why at this point, but it lasted for many years into reagan's first term also. i've got to say, his vision was right on the money. he espoused a peaceable kingdom, just like the painting, but was never able to achieve it because of human frailty. we love jimmy carter, and i'm sorry to see him go. host: bob in michigan. john in florida, good morning. caller: good morning. i knew the carters. good people.

amazing they didn't get enough coverage as far as their hopes and dreams to be fulfilled. unfortunately right now the politics has overtaken our society with the partisanship and we need to get back to our founding as far as democracy. hello? host: how did you know the carters? caller: it was -- it was -- it wasn't intimate. i was hoping we would carry forth, but i had some issues i had to deal with. with mrs. carter when she wrote her book on mental health, i spoke up at her -- her kickoff for her book at miami-dade

college. i asked her a question about mental health, that we should have patient education to help. there is also with mr. karger, with jimmy -- mr. carter, with jimmy, gave him a ring that i have of a dolphin and i told him that i'm also related to one of the founding families of the nation. so, i spoke with him about that. we had a really nice conversation. i just wanted to -- one last thing i have the say is, we don't know our history and that is part of etymology for democracy. we have to know our history and we don't know our history. as well as we don't know about what happened. what we are dealing with now is an extensive civil war, un-civil

war. we don't know what happened at the end of the civil war is aristocrats, scalawags, they di dn't accept, concede defeat. what they did is they got all the moles, their moles, and they put them into the north and all the various departments, agencies, military, finance, and they have been moles ever since and that is what we've got right now. that's how they were able to put in, in the justice department, their moles who delayed the prosecution of january 6 and kick it down the road so they can delay, delay, delay. that's all it got to say. host: john in florida. president carter sat down with c-span several times over the years for interviews talking about books and other topics.

it was in 1999 that he was asked during one of those interviews about his views of the office of presidency. here is his remarks. [video clip] >> talk about the american presidency, the office of the president. would you change anything if you could? is it as powerful as it should be? >> we american presidency is extremely powerful in the arena of foreign policy. when i decided to normalize diplomatic relations with china, the constitution gave me unilateral right to do so. the congress had no role to play in that decision. if i wanted to send troops into battle, i could have done so. as has been done many times since i left office, without confrontation or getting permission from congress in advance. in domestic legislation, almost all the legislation that was passed through my four years originated in the white house. i

bill that originated -- i can't remember a single major bill that originated in the congress. congress presented to me this is what i want about these subjects and we had a good batting average. the thing the president has no control over is the economic of the nation. he has an equal role to play with congress and taxation, but the federal reserve board really determines the rate of inflation and tightness of money, which results in the growth of the economy. even greater is the free enterprise system of our country. what the conglomerate, what major corporations do, general motors, ibm, and so forth. the other fact over which the president has no control is the international situation. if a war erupts or if you have a

so-called asia crisis, which we've had lately, the president has nothing to say about that. when nixon was in office i was governor and we had the formation of opec and the oil embargo against anyone who traded with israel. we had long gas lines and the price of oil went sky high. that wasn't nixon's fault. he didn't have anything to do with it. the president gets changed for economic changes if they are bad and it takes credit for them if they are good, but for all purposes the president plays may be a 10%, 15% role in the nation's economy. foreign policy. domestic policy, 50-50. economic policy, very little. host: this is a live look at the db sumter medical center in americus, georgia. you can see the motorcade pulling up. that is the carter family.

they are expected to be there for a few minutes before going to president carter's hometown. we will see the family getting out of the motorcade and current and former special agent in charge from the u.s. secret service carter protection division will take president carter's remains to the hearse and walk alongside the hearse as the motorcade departs that center. back to your calls while we wait for the carter family to arrive. christopher in new jersey. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call and thank you, c-span, bringing us historical significance of events like this. jimmy carter was a man who showed all young people how to

indeed do public service. to do good for all humanity and to change the world for the better. i know because as an advocate for people with special needs and as someone who is fighting to make a difference, i can understand jimmy carter and i have that in common. i do believe that if we can learn a great deal from jimmy carter's life is to be able to go above and beyond the malaise of what is happening in the world today, and we can rise above all the darkness and divisiveness and everything else to be a world of humanity and a world of good. so that young people can show the world what good can do by serving in public places and doing public service to go places like soup kitchens, or help build homes, and stuff. i encourage every young person to follow the example of the great jimmy carter. to not only help overcome the crisis of confidence and the

crisis of confidence we are seeing now in our world, but also be a global citadel of change and justice and being able to have greater good overcome the great evil we are seeing around the world. may jimmy carter's legacy be that of helping inspire the next generation and being a light in this very dark time that we face. my heart goes to jimmy carter's family, his friends, and all of georgia. we want to say, thank you, mr. president, for showing us the way in public service even after you served your country with the highest distinction. my grandfather was a military man himself, and that is what also -- host: christopher, thank you for your call. we will leave it there. we want to be able to show you some of the sights and sounds that is happening. that is the carter family arriving at the phoebe sumter medical center in americus

georgia. we will let you taken -- take in those sights and sounds for a few minutes.

>> they are coming behind the phoebe sumter sign.

[distant traffic noise]

[distant train whistle]

[train passing] host: if you are just joining us, that is the hearse carrying former president jimmy carter departing the phoebe sumter medical center in americus, georgia on route to where president carter's boyhood home is. it is about a 15 minute drive.

if you were watching the event on c-span, you saw former and current members of the secret service who were part of president carter's protection division load the casket into the hearse. again, it is now going to be making the 15 minute drive to his boyhood home. they will briefly pause in front of the family farm. that is expected to happen at 10:50 a.m. during that pause, the national park service will render a salute to the late president and ring the historic farm bell 39 times. that is a look at president carter's boyhood home where the family is expected to arrive in about 15 minutes. we will go back to your calls and hear more of your thoughts on the life and legacy of former president jimmy carter. annie and eastpointe, michigan.

thank you for staying with us while we were able to show our viewers what was happening. caller: good morning. host: hi, annie. caller: are you still there? host: yep. go ahead, annie. caller: everyone who is watching, please do not judge president jimmy carter only on the four years he was in office. he did a lot of miraculous things before he became president and afterward. one of the things he did was he assisted at the chalk river nuclear plant in canada in stopping a meltdown, which would have affected the united states, all of canada, and europe depending on which way the wind blew. he can only spend 90 seconds inside of the tunnel to loosen one bolt. there was a crew of men who went up to canada to basically save

us. hardly anybody in the news programming said anything about this since he passed away, which is phenomenal to me, because i knew this way back when i was in high school. we were talking about president carter. it's a shame that people did not do a more in-depth look at his life before and after he was president. i know a lot of people talked about afterwards, but he did a lot of wonderful things. he was highly intelligent. he graduated from the naval academy. he was on the first -- the second nar submarine, the sea wolf. i mean, he was a unique humanitarian who taught us morally all how to be better people.

i refuse to judge this man on the four years he was president. i will look at his entire life and try to emulate my life like his, because i don't see that type of moral integrity in politicians at all. -- at all, a good portion of them today. we need to get back to character, morals, principles, values again. that is all i want to say. host: annie in michigan. we will be live on "washington journal" for another 25 minutes or so as we remember president jimmy carter. his state funeral services beginning today in georgia. we will continue to show you easements as -- show you events as they happen. if you would like to comment on

carter's life and legacy, you can call the line. in the eastern or central time zone, (202) 748-8000. mountain or pacific, (202) 748-8001. bernie in washington, good morning. caller: good morning. good morning. host: hi, bernie. caller: hi. i just wanted to say a little about the former president carter. i am an american indian from montana. what they call white people, in 1976 president carter signed into law american indian religious freedom act, allowing american indians across the nation to practice their religions again. it was banned in the 1880's by the federal government. so, i wanted to thank -- for allowing american indian people, again, their freedom of

religion, which is this country's foundation. i wanted to thank him and appreciate everything he did for the people of all color are nations, black, white, yellow, we are all related. thank you, president carter. host: michael in new york. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: doing well, michael. caller: the united states should see president carter out. [indiscernible] president carter did a lot for the world. not only america. when america though the world

go, so people should understand this man did a lot. [indiscernible] host: michael in new york. jan in columbus, ohio. caller: i would like to thank president carter for his dignity that he showed in any debate with gerald ford. he always called him his distinguished opponent, and he always did wonderful things about not disparaging anybody's character. i think that would be a wonderful thing for all of us. he called what we have now a theocracy not a democracy where everyone is divided. i would like to get back to the non-divided. thank you. host: jan in columbus, ohio.

this is a live look at archery, georgia where president carter's hometown, boyhood home is. his family is expected to arrive at that location in 10 minutes. during that stop the national park service will render a salute to the late president ringing a historic farm bell 39 times in his honor. duty in south beach, oregon. -- judy in south beach, oregon. caller: carter was the first president that i voted for. i'm proud to say that. he spent his whole life -- he spent his whole life doing good things. he didn't -- everything he did was out of the love of people, of all different types of people.

just really proud to say i voted for him. i followed him, and i can't think of anything bad to say about him. thank you, jimmy carter. thank you. host: judy in oregon. it was in 2008 that president carter spoke about his hopes for the future at a commencement address at liberty university. it is one of his last appearances on the network. here is a portion of his remarks. [video clip] >> when i became president and before i was inaugurated, when i was elected, i was given a brief by the military leaders of our country. i learned, maybe for the first time, that if i forbid a nuclear war, the use of atomic weapons, that the arsenals of the soviet union and united states alone, if ever used in

that kind of war, would end the ability of all human beings and animals to survive. because of the direct explosions, the atomic fallout, and the covering of the skies by dark clouds of smoke and debris from the nuclear devices. no human being, and no animals, could survive a nuclear war. we now still have that great responsibility and threat. we have to share it with seven or eight other countries, which you know: russia, china, great

britain, france, england, israel, pakistan, and india, and may be, we don't know for sure, north korea. with this threat to human existence, what then can you and i do about it? for a long time, humans had to contend with animals. we depended on them for survival. we depended on our speed, our agility, our strength to survive in competition with animals. we know that for several generations now human intelligence and the weapons that we have developed permit us to prevail over other animals. what is there left to do? how can we prevail, as human

beings? one thing we have to learn is how to get along, to do good for one another, and to get along with our potential enemies, instead of how we can prevail in combat. in other words, just follow the mandates of the prince of peace. living with even our enemies in peace is what jesus taught. that will be our only survival in the future. host: this is a live look at president carter's boyhood home in the town of archery, georgia. you can see the national park service workers have gathered there. the family of president carter is expected to arrive in about five or six minutes. they will, there will be a brief pause in front of the family

farm, and they will render a salute to the late president. they will ring the historic farm bell 39 times. after that, after the pause, the late president will begin his final journey to atlanta. the -- president carter 's hers will be -- hurst will be transported to the carter presidential ceremony for an arrival ceremony and service. president carter will lie in repose for mourners to pay their respect sunday night until tuesday. he will then depart the presidential center on tuesday for washington, where he will lie in state at the capitol rotunda tuesday night through thursday morning. thursday morning, the national funeral service will be held at the washington cathedral. after that, president carter will head back to georgia aboard

special their mission 39 to plains, georgia for a private funeral service and internment. we will continue to show you these live pictures this morning and take your calls until we see the carter family arrived. jason, san diego, california. good morning, jason. caller: good morning. i would like to say -- president-elect and our president jimmy carter. there's one thing i realize that they have in common. they both have in common that they were both one term presidents. one-term presidents. i look at there is a good and evil. that is all i have to say. thank you. host: jim in parsons, west

virginia. good morning, jim. caller: good morning, c-span. i had a lot of different reflections and listen to people, their opinions and views. to me, it's a reflection more of truth than reality when people look back accurately at real history. i think there is too much of a political tendency from the right to blame, blame, blame, dig and pick, and be sarcastic and cynical. you can tell that every time you watch fox news. jimmy carter did many things. he was way ahead of his time with the solar panels on the white house roof and stuff like that. he was looking forward and saying we cannot be dependent on old, dirty energy forever, but people didn't want to listen. i am saying this.

for example, president trump, the things that happened while he was president, a lot of not great things. there was a mass shooting in las vegas at the concert where a lot of people died. the covid pandemic hit. he didn't do such brilliant negotiations on trade with the tariffs on china, the usmca, cut off supplies on building materials and agriculture from canada. i'm saying to republicans, look to your own people, your own leaders, what they do and don't do, and things that don't work out great, and be as quick to criticize them as you are a good, decent democrat like jimmy carter who was trying in a different way. he respected the military. he was part of the military. you have to remember that. consider all of humanity, all of mankind, everyone else's point

of view, come to good compromises to have a peaceful, decent future. host: that was jim in west virginia. you can see on your screen the motorcade is traveling to president carter's hometown of archery, georgia, to his boyhood farm. they should be arriving momentarily. it was about 10:15 that the carter family and the motorcade departed the phoebe sumter medical center in americus, georgia. we will hear from norman in pennsylvania. caller: yes, good morning, c-span and the u.s. i think a lot of people miss the fact that jimmy carter -- a lot of people know that he was probably one of the most honest, decent people who ever filled the white house. a lot of people don't realize that he was a one term president

because there were people in washington, on both sides, that didn't want a guy who was going to come in and do everything he could for, in capital letters f-o-r, the american people rather than just taking bribes and lobby money from lobbyists. if jimmy carter had become a second term president, we -- you know, he would have ended the gravy train for a lot of people in washington. he was a good, decent, honest person. you look at his entire life and there is nothing nefarious about it. he just did everything he could to help the people. big money didn't want that on either side. when we had the gas shortage, and i lived in pennsylvania, at

the time we had the gas shortage and people were waiting in lines, there were nine oil tankers in the delaware bay waiting to refine their oil and they weren't allowed to do that here the same thing happened in louisiana, oklahoma, and texas. they didn't want a good man in there. it is a shame. we have gone so far from that example in today's world. he was a good man. thank you. host: that was norman in pennsylvania. jim in ohio. caller: good morning. i was a science teacher for 30 years. everybody might forget, or a lot of people, that jimmy carter was a nuclear engineer. you will have to go back pretty far in the history of our country to find any kind of president with the credentials of that nature and what that

means in terms of their innate intelligence. the story that the man just related about the oil tankers sitting out there, assuming that is correct, sounds a little like how the hostages just happened to be released five minutes after ronald reagan was installed as president. so, i wanted to get down there a number of times to meet jimmy carter, but, you know what, i put it off a few years too long, unafraid. i did order a nice 8x10 to put in my house to remember him. host: that was jim in ohio. christopher, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you all for c-span and all you do. such a beautiful host. it is great to watch.

but i have to say, i'm thankful, very thankful, for president jimmy carter. i was in middle school when he was elected, so i wasn't able to vote for him. such a decent, god-fearing, loving man. rosalynn carter and his family, boy -- i wish we had that kind of decency upcoming in the white house. god bless. thank you all. have a good -- host: that was christopher in michigan. you can see on your screen the motorcade arriving carrying the carter family and also part of the motorcade is carrying warmer president jimmy carter.

they left the phoebe sumter medical center in americus, georgia and should be arriving at president carter's boyhood farm in archery, georgia. you should see them on the screen in a few minutes. you could see earlier it was a group of national park service workers who had gathered to greet the family. here, you can see the motorcade coming down the road now. they will, the motorcade, stop and there will be a salute to the late president. they will ring the historic bell at the farm 39 times in honor of the 39th president. we will let you listen to the sights and sounds that we are seeing right now. [ambient traffic]

>> present, arms. [farm bell ringing]

[farm bell ringing]

[farm bell ringing]

>> live look at jimmy carter's motorcade for funeral services today in georgia, leaving president carter's boyhood home, archery, georgia, his boyhood farm where they paused for a 39 bell salute to the former president. the motorcade is leaving. there next stop will be the georgia state